The Ghost Boy Prophecy II
by Danny'sGhostGirl
Summary: Sequel to The Ghost Boy Prophecy. Danny hides out in the Ghost Zone and refuses to return to Amity Park. But when evil takes over his home town, he's forced to go back. Will his prophecy come true, or will he overcome the odds? Slight AU
1. Prologue

**DGG:** I'm finally back with the prologue of the long-awaited sequel to The Ghost Boy Prophecy. I haven't fully completed it and I'm hoping that posting it online will push me to finish this quicker. Since there'd be people reading it, I couldn't keep them in suspense for too long...I hope...I don't know. I've become a horrible procrastinator through the years :( It's upsetting. Oh well. Enough of my foolish ranting.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters.**

* * *

Danny Phantom, the acclaimed half- boy-half-ghost, was now flying around in the ghost zone. He felt as though it was the only place he belonged. Actually, he felt like it was the only place he could go. He'd been drifting around in both worlds for about two months now. Ever since leaving Amity Park, he wasn't quite sure where he belonged anymore.

Everyone knew who Danny was. Every time he would pass by a ghost or a human, they would quickly rush away. For awhile the young ghost-boy felt completely alone until he ran into a great, white snow-beast. The massive creature was covered in white fur. His horns and left arm were both made of ice; the ice constructing his left limb exposed bones frozen within. He wore a royal-blue cloak that blew in the wind like a cape whenever he walked as well as something that resembled a blue kilt around his waist. His name was Frostbite. He and the rest of his kind seemed to be the only ones who knew Danny wasn't a bad person, so Danny stayed with them in their snow-covered home.

Everyday that passed by, Frostbite tried to convince Danny to go back to his home, but all attempts seemed to be in vain. The halfa always refused no matter what his furry friend tried to say.

"Danny, I feel there is something I must tell you," began Frostbite one day.

"Please, I don't want to be 'persuaded' to go back anymore. I left and that's the end of the story," Danny sighed sadly.

"Young one, you must return," urged Frostbite. "Amity Park needs you."

"No, no, they don't."

"But you must; it is your destiny."

"I'm not going back to a place where everyone thinks I'm going to hurt them!"

"But you are their savior. You must return to them."

Danny turned away from his friend.

"You know it is what you must do."

"And why is that?" huffed Danny.

"Because evil is about to grip your home within its clutches again."

At this, Danny turned back around," How do you know that?"

"Because that is what's written in the prophecy."

Danny raised an eyebrow at this, "Prophecy? What are you talking about?"

Frostbite stood and motioned for Danny to follow him. The two walked through Frostbite's frozen castle, out into the openly cold plain, and traveled a few short miles to a gigantic building made of snow. From there they traveled to the third floor, where an infinite number of crystal orbs sat on an equally infinite number of shelves.

"What _is _all this?" Danny asked in awe, his green eyes sweeping over the many rows.

This is where all the prophecies are kept; we guard them. There is one for every ghost in the world," Frostbite explained.

"So…does that mean I have one too?" Danny gulped.

"Of course."

"Where is it?"

Frostbite led Danny down one of the many rows to his very own crystalline orb. The halfa stared at it for a few seconds before finally reaching out to pluck it from its resting place.

"I must warn you, Danny," spoke the snow creature, "you may not like what you are to hear."

"So this will define what'll happen to me?"

Frostbite nodded. Danny plucked the medium-sized ball from its holder with his right hand. The crystal instantly started to glow bright blue, and Danny listened to his prophecy…

* * *

**DGG:** Please review :)


	2. Evil Resurfaces

"Sam," knocked an African American boy. "Sam, come on open up."

Samantha Manson, self-proclaimed Goth of Amity Park, ignored her friend's worried voice and remained under the black covers of her four-post bed. Tucker, adorned in his geeky apparel – a red beret, dull yellow shirt, sage green shorts, and black wide-rimmed glasses – tried turning the knob again, but just as it had been fifteen seconds before, it was locked. However, that did not hinder him from his efforts.

"Sam, I'm coming in there one way or another," he huffed at her.

The only response he received was the soft sound of a pillow whacking the wooden door from the other side.

"Well it's a good think you gave me a spare key," smirked Tuck as he took the golden key from his right pocket and stuck it into the lock. Sam groaned and turned over in her bed upon hearing her door open. "Come on, Sam, I know you're a Goth and all, but you need to go out into the daylight sometime."

No response.

The teenage boy stared sadly at the lump in the middle of his friend's bed. "Come on, Sam, I know why you've shut yourself up in your room like this. I miss him too."

Still nothing.

"It's not like he's gone forever…"

"It's not? How could you say that? Why would Danny ever come back here again?" Sam roared as she threw off her blankets and sat up straight revealing her messy black hair and her black, cotton nightgown.

Tucker blinked in surprise. Ever since their best friend left, Sam had barely spoken two words in one setting.

"I…I just wanted you to feel better. I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Well I hate to burst your bubble, but lying to me will not make me feel better!"

"Sorry!"

"Why are you here anyways?"

"You're still my friend, Sam. I already lost one; I don't wanna keep losing the other."

"'Keep?"' What do you mean by 'keep'?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I mean that ever since Danny left you've been a bit of a basket case! You've barely gone outside, you've ignored me, and we've haven't hung out at all. Sam, we're all worried about you. Danny wasn't the glue holding us together!"

"How do you know? I only met you through Danny when we were kids!"

"Oh, so you're saying you never even liked me to begin with? If that's the case, why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"To be nice you techno-freak!"

Tucker blinked, losing his gusto, "You don't really mean that, do you?"

Sam glared daggers at the fourteen year old for a few more moments before sighing and slumping down in her bed, "No."

"Sam," Tucker sat down beside his childhood friend and put an arm around her.

"I just feel so horrible," she continued. "I mean, I never once told him…you know…how I felt. Now it's too late," she placed her head in her hands.

"Danny's leaving hasn't been easy for anyone, Sam, but you don't have to take it out on me. Plus, I think there are others out there who have the right to be more depressed than you."

The Goth turned her head to the right to look up at him questioningly.

"I think his family has dibs on that card."

Tuck was right. Ever since the two of them told Danny's family he'd left, barely any of them had been seen outside. Jack hadn't come up with anymore inventions, and Maddie hadn't stopped crying. Jazz was the one seen the most though. She mainly sat outside on the front steps of her home and stared blankly into the sky, as if waiting for her brother to return at any moment.

"See, everyone feels bad."

"Not everyone," Sam stood up, walked to the giant window in her room, pulled the curtain back slightly, and peered outside. Tucker joined her side and the two stared at the citizens in the streets. "All those people couldn't care less about where Danny is right now. In fact, they seemed extremely relieved when they heard he was gone."

"Yeah, I remember," Tuck spoke bitterly at the memory.

Sam closed her black curtains and walked back to her bed.

"Please don't go back to bed," begged Tuck. "We could go visit Jazz, or hang out at the Nasty Burger, or something. Please?"

"No, thanks," she pulled her covers back over herself.

"Well, maybe we could go find Danny."

Sam perked up and looked over at her friend, "What?"

"Yeah, we could go to Danny's house and you, Jazz, and I could go searching for him in the Specter Speeder!" smiled the boy. "What do you say?"

"I say that's quite out of the question," spoke a new voice.

The two turned their attention to the doorway.

"No way…" spoke Tucker in disbelief.

"How…?" squeaked Sam.

The last thing the two teens saw was an evil smirk before everything went black.

* * *

The halfa was lying on his snowy bed staring blindly at the ceiling, his prophecy in his right hand. He wanted nothing more than to believe it was all a hoax and that his ghostly self never existed. Maybe he'd fallen into a coma and dreamt all his heroic adventures. Yeah, that was always possible, but he knew it couldn't be farther from the truth. Unbeknownst to the young ghost, Frostbite was standing in the doorway. The large snow-beast watched him with concern etched into his furry features.

"Danny," he spoke quietly.

"So," Danny answered absently, still staring upwards, "this prophecy will come true?"

"Yes."

"Is there any chance it could be wrong?"

"No."

Danny sighed.

"You see, you must return to Amity Park…"  
"No," came Danny's firm reply.

Frostbite blinked," You cannot defy your own destiny, Danny."

"Maybe not but I'm going to try," Danny stood up.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going out for awhile. I'll be back later."

"That may be unwise on your part," advised Frostbite.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "I'll be fine. Besides all the other ghosts are afraid of me; they'll leave me alone."

"Fine, but don't stray too far, and keep your prophecy with you at all times."

"My prophecy?" Danny repeated. "What for?"

"To protect it."

"Whatever," he placed it in the pocket of his suit, "I'll be back later."

The fourteen year old turned intangible, and flew through the walls to the brisk air outside. Frostbite stayed in his young guest's room for a few moments, knowing fully well that Danny shouldn't go anywhere in the Ghost Zone alone, but he was a teenager – a thick-headed teenager. There'd be no reasoning with him. He finally sighed, turned to his left, and headed for the stairwell that led down to the first floor of his home. He decided he'd better check on The Hall of Prophecies to make sure everything was intact. Sometimes it was a burden to be entrusted with the duty of protecting the prophecies and having to worry about them all the time; however, it was also a great honor.

When Frostbite was nearly half way to the other building his sensitive ears started picking up something. He stopped dead in his tracks and listened intently, the wind nipping at him slightly. His ears told him that a scuffle was going on between several of his guards and an intruder. The snow-white beast ran full force towards the fight, fearing who he would see, but knowing exactly what they were after. He burst through the double doors of The Hall of Prophecies and headed up to the third floor. There he found a multitude of his guards lying unconscious on the icy ground with multiple shelves and prophecies broken to pieces. Amidst the mess was a mechanically built ghost; his back was facing the doorway as he tried to force the last standing guard in the room to give him the information he needed. Infuriated, Frostbite crept up slowly behind the ghost, but just as he got close enough to attack, an alarm on the ghost's suit went off. He flew into the air, over the yeti's head, and landed behind him.

"Frostbite, I wondered when you would finally show up," Skulker smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Frostbite snarled, already knowing the answer.

"I'm searching for a prophecy."

"You have already attained your own. You know you cannot take another ghost's orb without their consent, Skulker."

"I know the rules, Frostbite," the hunter held out his right arm and launched a missile at another row of shelves, "but in order to acquire what I'm after I don't play by them."

Frostbite watched in horror as the glass orbs shattered to thousands of crystalline pieces on the frozen ground below. This enraged the beast even more as he sprang at his prey like a cat to a mouse; however, Skulker quickly flew out of the way, causing more fury to spring up in the beast's eyes.

"You can prevent this," smiled the ghost-hunter. "Just hand over Danny's prophecy and I will spare the rest."

"I do not have it," he snapped back. "Therefore, you should leave this plain."

"Please, I took out your guards without even breaking a sweat. Do you think you could fare any better in trying to make me leave?"

Frostbite deepened his glare.

"Well, if that's the way you feel I accept your challenge."

The hunter held out his right arm again, opening up more compartments to show another series of missiles. The metallic ghost smirked as he launched the round at his new foe. The tiny rockets stirred up tons of snow, blocking his target from view. Nevertheless, Skulker kept firing. After a few long excruciating minutes, he finally brought his attack to a halt, ceasing the explosions. When the snow settled, Skulker was please to see that both Frostbite and a large chunk of the wall were gone, exposing frigid sunlight inside the building. The ghost hunter's victory was cut short though by a sudden snow tornado forming around him. He looked left and right in surprise; Frostbite wasn't gone after all. As his attention was still focused on how to escape the eye of the storm, Frostbite pounced upon him and pinned him to the ground outside the tornado, which disappeared soon after.

"You can't defeat me, yeti. I'm the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter. I will succeed in locating the orb," Skulker smirked.

"Trust me. You'll never lay your cold, metal hands on it," Frostbite growled rather darkly.

The mechanical ghost ejected his jet pack wings and flew out of his enemy's clutches, then hovered soundly in the air above. The white beast stood up straight, ready for an assault. Sure enough, Skulker raced full-force towards his prey, smashing into him and trapping him against a wall.

"Now, I will ask you again," Skulker ejected a large blade from the left arm of his suit and held it to the ghost's throat, "where have you hidden it?"

"I have not touched it, Skulker. You are asking the wrong ghost," he answered calmly.

The hunter pressed the knife further to his throat, cutting into the beast's white pelt, "That's not the answer I was looking for."

"I speak nothing but the truth to you, Skulker. I do not have it."

"If you refuse to comply, I will be forced to kill you. Your pelt could easily cover the hallways of an entire wing of my home," he threatened.

"You do not frighten me, Skulker."

The white beast's tranquility only incensed the huntsman even more. The mechanical specter raised his blade, poised to end everything here and now.

"What's going on in here?" asked an all-too-familiar voice.

Surprise struck Skulker like a train. While still holding onto Frostbite with his right hand, he slowly turned around to find the young Danny Phantom hovering just outside the hole in the opposite wall.

"The whelp," Skulker practically squeaked, dropping the yeti and disengaging his weapon.

The white-haired halfa landed on the snowy floor inside the sacred building. Time seemed to slow down as the hunter stared at the boy facing him. He couldn't believe it. He was here. The boy he'd hunted on many an occasion, the child he and the rest of Plasmius' army tortured only a few short months before, the ghost that was filled with so much evil-power and energy that he was downright devastating. Never in his ghostly after-life did he ever expect to see the day that Danny Phantom would become the universe's strongest ghost. Just the thought of the boy's raw, barbaric powers caused him to tremble. The memory flooded back to him in an instant, paralyzing the hunter where he stood.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "What's the matter? Usually you would have attacked me by now."

The ghost remained silent.

"Come on, Skulker," urged Danny. "I'll even let you have the first hit."

He still made no intention of fighting.

"What's wrong with you; you're acting like you're scared or something."

This caused his rival to place a dirty scowl on his face as though he'd been intimidated. This did not go unnoticed by Danny.

"You are afraid of me, aren't you?" he chuckled. "Oh, man. I knew that all the other ghosts kept their distance from me out of fear, but I never would have pictured you as one of them. I would have guessed that you were plotting some new evil scheme against me."

"Of course I'm not afraid of you!" Skulker roared almost offended at the idea, but Danny heard the slight uncertainty in his voice.

"Wow, correct me if I'm wrong, but you shouldn't fear your prey, should you?" Danny continued to laugh.

Skulker's eye twitched; his anger was boiling under his metal exterior. What Danny spoke _was_ the truth. He was still slightly intimidated by him – all the ghosts were. But what was there to be afraid of? The Neka-Danny showed nothing but ruthlessness, snapping at everyone and everything around him. The boy before him was nearly in stitches – something he was sure the boy he feared would never be in; he was too serious to let that happen. The ghost in front of him was nothing more than the fourteen year old boy he hunted for sport. Skulker suddenly found his fear melting away, and a more sinister smirk played on his face as his confidence slowly built back up. Suddenly, that's when he noticed it.

A small glimmer came from Danny's left hand: his prophecy. Of course! It was so obvious. If Danny was here, Frostbite would have advised him to keep the orb with him. So Frostbite had been telling the truth all along.

Frostbite sensed the new wave of determination emanating from Skulker. The snow beast craned his neck to look more closely at his young friend. As his eyes searched him, he finally noticed the orb in Danny's hand. The mechanical ghost ejected the two jet pack wings on his back again and this time flew for Danny at full force.

"Danny, look out!" shouted Frostbite.

Unfortunately, his warning came too late. Before the hybrid could even begin to register that his companion had even spoke, Skulker grabbed him, and the two went careening down the side of the snow-building, landing in the puffy snow below. Once they hit bottom, Skulker instantly began strangling the boy.

"I originally came here for your prophecy," the metallic cyborg motioned at the sphere that lay a few inches away from Danny's left arm, "but while I'm here I might as well get rid of you as well. I'll be deemed the Ghost Zone's new hero for purging this realm of you."

The only response Skulker received was Danny's gargled attempt to loosen the mechanical grip around his neck. He could feel the halfa's small body growing weaker with each passing minute. He bore a sadistic smile as he watched the life from the boy slowly leave. Just as Danny was about to take his last breath, the young hybrid stretched out his right hand and fired a green ghost ray, knocking the hunter off him. The mechanical ghost went skidding across the snow driven plain and crashed into the wall of the Hall of Prophecies. The hybrid sat up, coughing wildly.

Skulker glared at the boy, "Whelp, you should have just let me strangle you. Now you will suffer a more excruciating death."

Young Danny merely sat and watched, coughing, as his nemesis readied to attack, but before anything could happen, Skulker froze…literally. Danny blinked a few times before noticing Frostbite was the culprit. Before he could even question what happened, the yeti used his left, icy hand to rip through the face of Skulker's exoskeleton. Moments later he plucked the small green out of the control panel and held him upside down by his right foot.

"You may have won this round, Frostbite, but I'll be back," shouted the green blob, "and when I do, I will obtain the whelp's prophecy and destroy both him and your precious Hall. Do you hear me? I will destroy everything!"

Frostbite ignored the small ghost's ramblings and quickly ejected him from the plain. After that was done, he turned his attention to his young friend.

"Danny, are you alright?" Frostbite rushed to his side.

"Yeah…I'm fine," he coughed while rubbing his bruised throat. "So I guess this is what you meant by going out would be unwise on my part?"

Frostbite nodded.

"So all the ghosts are going to come after me?"

"Not you per se, but your orb," Frostbite picked it up from the ground and held it out to the halfa.

The boy stared at the crystalline ball for a few moments before reaching out and taking it, "So what do we do now?"

"We will wait and prepare. I'm sure there will be more attacks similar to this one."

* * *

  
**DGG:** Review please :)


	3. Answers

"It's been three days, and you still haven't figured out what happened to our kids!" yelled the elegant, red-headed Mrs. Manson.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but we're doing everything we possibly can," answered the doctor in his deep, calm voice.

"My child is in critical condition, and I want to know why! Is money a problem because I can pay you any amount?"

"I know you can, and I can assure you that money is not the issue."

As the two adults continued to bicker and cause a scene, the Foley family sat quietly off to the side.

"There, there," Maurice comforted his sobbing wife. "Tucker will be okay."

At the mention of her son, the middle-aged woman's sobs seemed to come more frantically. The classy business woman's suit was wrinkled and stained with salty tears. Currently her tears were soaking the front of her husbands blue sweater. She just couldn't get the image of her only son – unconscious and badly injured – out of her mind. Her wailing seemed to grow louder as a teen girl wearing a black, long-sleeved, dress shirt and robin's-egg-blue jeans made her way toward the unhappy couple.

"There's still no change, Jasmine," Mr. Foley spoke upon seeing the red-head.

The girl didn't speak a word but looked forlornly towards the double doors that led to the two comatose teens.

"There's no improvement what-so-ever?" she asked.

Maurice shook his head as he clutched his wife closer to his chest, "but their condition hasn't worsened either."

"Well, that's good."

"How…how could th-this happen to my baby?" sobbed Mrs. Foley.

"Do you guys mind if I go see them?" asked Jazz.

"If it was up to us sure, but the doctors won't let anyone in," answered the African American man.

The red-head's heart sank as she peered down briefly into her open purse. She just had to get in there to check something; something just wasn't quite right with this situation, and she was going to find out what.

* * *

Frostbite had been right. So far two more ghosts came to obtain Danny's prophecy. These ghosts were ones Danny was not familiar with though, and they caused far less damage than Skulker.

Danny sighed as he lay in his snowy bed. Two things were troubling him: one, what was spoken in his prophecy, and two, why were these ghosts so keen on stealing it? He glanced over at the orb that was perched on a shelf made of snow across the room. Temptation began creeping through his body, urging him to listen to the words again, yet fear of those very words kept him pinned in place. He sighed again as his gaze went back to the ceiling.

_I don't get it,_ he thought. _Why is all this happening? And more importantly, why do these things always have to happen to me?_

Danny closed his green eyes as he felt tears stinging at the backs of them.

"I never asked for these powers. I just wanted a normal life that any fourteen-year-old should have."

"But you are not a normal fourteen-year-old."

"Not since I got these powers, Frostbite," Danny turned over so his back was facing his friend.

"Danny, I know you're tired of hearing this, but you have been destined for this since before you were born."

"But why me?"

"I could not answer your question. That is beyond my knowledge."

"So who _does_ have the knowledge?"

"Clockwork."

Danny blinked in surprise and sat up stiffly," He does?"

Frostbite nodded his furry head, "He oversees all of time. He helps in creating the prophecies with The Observants."

"So this is all his fault?" asked Danny.

"Nothing is his fault," Frostbite corrected. "He has done no wrong."

"I think," Danny began, his legs turning into a ghostly tail, "I'll go pay Clockwork a little visit."

"Danny, don't go just to cause any trouble," warned Frostbite, but Danny was out of sight before the ghost even finished his sentence.

*****

Danny flew as fast as possible through the ghostly realm. Anger fueled him as he grew nearer and nearer to his destination. The young ghost-boy burst through the wall of Clockwork's clock tower and landed on the stone floor.

"Ah, Danny, I've been expecting you," Clockwork spoke calmly.

"You made my prophecy?"

"Indeed I did," spoke the purple-cloaked ghost as his form changed from that of an old man to a young child.

"What it says cannot be true!"

"A prophecy never lies."

"Isn't there a chance it could be wrong?" Danny asked hopefully.

Clockwork shook his head while changing to an adult, "Half of you prophecy has already come true. Now the other half is about to unfold."

"No!" The teen shouted. "I don't have to live by what some little piece of glass says!"

"The Observants, along with myself, looked through the time portal over there," Clockwork tilted his head towards it. "For every ghost's afterlife we see both good and bad. Others have more dynamic roles while others are merely just on-lookers along the street. You just so happened to have more of a dynamic part."

Danny turned away.

"Your prophecy orb was something we created. Even without it, you would still be destined for the same thing."

"What if I change my destiny?" asked Danny. "What if I stay in the Ghost Zone forever?"

"Try what you will, Danny, but you can't keep running forever."

"I can't go back," Danny snapped.

"You must learn to face your fears eventually."

"Or I could stay in the Ghost Zone and choose my own fate," the halfa folded his arms over his chest.

"I repeat, try what you will."

"I shall."

"But heed my warning. The problems from your world will radiate in to this one. When they do, you _will_go back."

"We'll just see about that."

Danny turned and without looking back, flew back out the way he came in.

"I know you will," Clockwork smirked. "I have foreseen it."

* * *

Back at Amity Park Hospital, not much had changed. Doctors were still doing tests on the two unconscious teens, and no one was allowed in to see them. Both sets of parents sat downtrodden in the waiting room, hoping that a doctor would deliver some good news soon. Jazz was also still at the hospital. She decided that if they wouldn't let her see her friends, then she would force herself in.

The teen stayed close to the set of hinged double doors leading down a hallway where her friends were being kept. She looked around to see if anyone was around. The only other people were the Mansons and the Foleys and none of the four were paying any attention to her. She poked her head up to peek through the rectangular window in the white door; there was a nurse doing rounds in the hall, preventing Jazz from rushing through the doors. Finally, the elderly nurse slowly turned into a room; Jazz hurried into the hall.

She walked at a brisk, steady pace through the sterile, white corridor, occasionally looking around to make sure no one was coming. The only place she slowed at was the room the nurse entered. With her back against the wall, the red-head peered around the corner into the room. The nurse was currently changing bed sheets with her back facing the doorway. Quickly, the teen continued down the hall.

About three steps away from the door, the sound of voices swarmed into her ears. She stopped dead as she realized they were coming from Sam and Tucker's room. Jazz looked all around in an attempt to find somewhere to hide. The knob twisted on the white-metal door and out stepped two doctors.

"I just don't understand what could have happened to these kids," spoke a blonde doctor. "They seem to be in comas for no reason."

"And what about the minor burns they have? Something odd is going on here," spoke his colleague.

"Are you suggesting the parents may have had something to do with this?"

"I won't rule it out just yet. We'll run more tests in the morning."

The other doctor agreed. Jazz held her breath as the doctors turned around and walked down the hall. Jazz crouched down lower in the shadows as the two men stepped past the doorway beside Sam and Tucker's. When they didn't notice her in the shadows, she let out a silent sigh of relief. She waited a few more moments until she heard the swinging doors brush against one another as they closed. She stood up and walked to the room next door. Once she was inside, the look on her face turned to one of sadness.

Jazz walked towards the two and stood in between their beds. It was disheartening to see the two teens hooked up to heart monitors and IV's, but she came here on a mission. If the hospital couldn't figure out what was wrong, maybe she could. With a new sense of determination, she reached into her red purse and pulled out what looked like a price scanner…with the word "Fenton" on it.

"Okay, with my parents' new Ecto-Finder, maybe something will turn up," she spoke.

She started with Sam. Jazz pushed the button on the handle of the scanner and a red, horizontal laser scanned its way over the Goth. After a few moments of calculation, a diagnosis appeared on the small black screen atop the device.

"I knew it," she spoke. She turned around and scanned Tuck, getting the same result. "They were attacked by a ghost! But why would anyone just randomly attack them?"

"Excuse me, young lady, you're not supposed to be in here."

The red-head whipped around while quickly scrambling to put the Ecto-Finder back in her purse.

"What? Where am I?" Jazz blinked while making up a story. "Oh, how'd I get in here? I must have been…sleepwalking. Yeah, that's it. I usually only do it when I'm extremely worried about something. In this case it was my two friends."

She smiled nervously as the nurse looked her over. Finally the white-haired woman sighed, "Have you seen a doctor for that condition?"

"Yes, Ma'am, and since I've been seeing him, I've been doing a lot better. Trust me."

"Fine. Come with me, please."

With one final look back at her friends she followed the elderly nurse back to the waiting room. When she stepped through the double doors, the parents were surprised to see her.

"Jasmine?" What were you doing back there?" asked Mrs. Foley.

"I snuck into their room…"

"How are they?" asked the red-headed mother. "How's my Samantha?"

"I think I know what's wrong with them, "Jazz continued.

"Well?" prodded Mr. Foley.

"The burns they have have traces of ectoplasm. Meaning they've been attacked by a ghost or ghosts."

"Ghosts? I thought all that ended when Danny left," the blonde Mr. Manson raised an eyebrow.

"The ghosts aren't all just going to disappear because my brother did!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"But why attack Sam and Tucker?" asked the African American woman.

"I don't know. I mean, they used to help Danny out when it came to inspecting for ghosts, but still. Unless they're trying to bring Danny out of hiding or something…"

"So this is your rotten brother's fault?" roared Mrs. Manson.

"Who said it was his fault?" Jazz shot back.

"You just did!"

"How could this be his fault? He's not even here!"

"That's exactly it! If he were here, maybe those ghosts would have gone after him instead."

"Hey! Remember who you're talking to!" Jazz cried.

"Calm down you two," Maurice stepped in between the raging females. "Yelling will get us nowhere. We don't know the true reason for the attack; therefore we have no right to point fingers at anyone. Just be thankful we know what's wrong now."

The two red-heads locked eyes again, exchanging icy glares before finally turning their noses up and ignoring the each other.

"I guess that all we can really do is wait for them to wake up," said Maurice.

With those final words hanging in the air, the five took their seats and waited for whatever would happen next.

* * *

**DGG:** Review?


	4. Power Surge

**DGG: **Sorry for the long intermission for those of you who are actually reading this. I lost inspiration. I'm sure it'll happen again too...just as a head's up. But I shall finish this story no matter what!

* * *

Danny once again was sitting alone in his frozen room. His young mind kept reeling with Clockwork's words: _"…You will go back."_ He wanted nothing more than to believe that the ghost was playing a cruel trick on him. He couldn't go back. The words in his prophecy pinned him in place.

_This is crazy,_ he thought. _My life can't be dictated by a little ball of glass. I mean, no one wants me back home. I can never go back to Amity Park unless everyone in the town moves away, and new people who know nothing about what I did move in._

The white-haired boy heaved a sigh as he hugged his knees to his chest and silent tears spilled from his already pain-filled eyes.

* * *

About a week passed by before Sam and Tucker finally woke up. The teens were helpless as their parents and other family members crowded around them in joy and relief. Finally, they could take a breath of relief as they were left alone. Not knowing how long this would last, they both sat in silence and relaxed. However, their eyes shot wide open as they heard their hospital door open.

"Jazz!" they both smiled in relief.

"Hey, guys how are you?" she asked.

"We've been better," admitted Tuck.

"All this attention has been totally unbearable," Sam explained.

"Yeah, I know," said Jazz. "I wanted to talk to you two."

"About what?" asked Tuck.

"About how you two ended up here."

"To tell you the truth, I don't really remember," confessed Sam.

"Me either," agreed Tucker.

"All I know about it is that you were attacked by a ghost."

Tuck and Sam exchanged glances with each other.

"Well, now that you mention it," started the Goth, "the last thing I remember seeing was a bunch of green ectoplasm."

Tuck nodded.

"But you don't know who did it to you?"

The two teens shook their heads. Jazz lowered her eyes, dejected.

"We wish we could be more helpful," Tucker spoke up.

"The problem is why you were attacked though," pointed out the red head.

"I mean was it a random ghost attack that could have happened to anyone, or did they come after you intentionally? Was this a random encounter, or will it happen again? Have the ghosts realized that they can do whatever they want just because Danny's gone? Could this mean that Amity Park is in trouble? What if…"

"Whoa, slow down, Jazz. You're making my head spin with all the questions," the African American boy held his arms out in front of him to cease the older teen's rant.

"Jazz, don't worry about it," smiled Sam.

"But what if the ghosts are coming back?"

"This is Amity Park. It'd be abnormal if they didn't," Tuck pointed out.

"Sure, but Danny isn't here to protect us anymore. They could completely run amok here without any disregard for punishment!"

"Your parents have contraptions to put 'em back in line," Tuck argued.

"Yeah, but my parents haven't been the same since Danny left. Who even knows if they'd care that the town was under attack?"

"C'mon, your dad – the self-proclaimed ghost-buff – not caring about our hometown being ravished by a bunch of disembodied creatures? Now that's just crazy," laughed Sam.

"My parents haven't spoken a word about ghosts since the day my brother ran away. You guys know they don't go outside anymore. They've been really quiet and that's just strange, especially for my dad. I mean, the only things they do are eat, sleep, go to the bathroom, and sit around doing nothing. I highly doubt they'd even look up if the front wall of our house were demolished by a tornado; they just don't care anymore," the red-head explained.

The trio looked around in silence. Things really did seem to be getting worse. The town just wasn't the same anymore. Ever since Danny was exposed as the halfa, everyone seemed to be mistrusting of each other, especially Sam and Tucker since they were Danny's best friends. The town just seemed abnormally quieter. Life at school was different for all three teens. Everyone avoided them as if they needed to be under quarantine. They gave them either dirty or frightened looks – sometimes a combination of the two. Danny needed to be there. It was the cold hard truth that no one wanted to accept. They feared him, but over time they would have realized he was still the same goofy kid he'd always been.

"I got it!" cried Tuck. "When Sam and I get out of here, why don't we go search for him?"

The two females raised their eyebrows.

"It's a good idea, but where would we even start?" asked Jazz.

"Anywhere, but the Ghost Zone seems logical to me."

"Yeah, but where?" questioned Sam. "The Ghost Zone is huge, Tucker!"

"Sure, but Danny's our friend! We have to at least make an effort to find him. I mean, his home's in trouble. He wouldn't abandon us if we needed help!"

Sam and Jazz exchanged glances before smiling and nodding in agreement.

"You're right, Tuck," smiled Jazz, suddenly filled with determination. "We should have gone searching for Danny when he first left."

"Better late than never," pointed out Sam.

"Alright then, it's all settled," Tuck smiled. "As soon as we're discharged, we're off to find Danny!"

* * *

Peace. It was something he needed; it was something he wanted. But every since becoming half ghost, Danny didn't find much of it, and now was no exception. Another ghoul had crashed The Realm of the Far Frozen, and was causing even more catastrophic damage to the sacred ground. Danny had been sitting on his bed when his ghost-sense went off, signaling the arrival of a new ghost. At first he paid no attention to it, assuming it was yet another entity that came to retrieve his or her prophecy; however, Danny was ambushed by a black, shapeless creature. He recognized it instantly as the shadow belonging to Johnny 13.

"Let go of me!" the boy cried.

The shadow smirked. It currently had a hold of Danny's left ankle and was swinging him around the room. Deciding to obey Danny's request, he released his grasp and Danny went soaring to the ground. The boy sat on the floor and rubbed his behind. The shadow wasted no time; it quickly lunged for Danny, but instead of attacking the hybrid, it flew through the floor just in front of him. The fourteen-year-old sat frozen in confusion. As he slowly stood up, the ground beneath him began to crack and give way due to the bad-luck powers of the shadow. Before Danny could even brace himself, he fell through the floor to the ground below. He landed with a thud on his back. Unbeknownst to him, his prophecy orb rolled out of his pocket and stopped a few feet away.

As if on cue the sound of a motorcycle approaching from outside caused Danny to snap out of his daze. As he slowly began to stand up, the motorcycle burst through the wall to Danny's left and scooped up the small orb on the floor.

"Lose something?" asked the rider as he brought his bike to a halt back by the hole he created.

"Johnny 13," Danny acknowledged him darkly as he stood up straight.

"Won't everyone be shocked to know that I was the one to snatch your prophecy away from you?" the teen biker chuckled while tossing the orb up and down in his hand.

"Give it back and then _maybe_ I'll go easy on you."

"Ha. You don't scare me, Halfa. I know you're not really evil. In fact, I know that you're nothing more than a pathetic little weakling," Johnny brushed a strand of his greasy-blonde hair out of his face. "You ran away from home and vowed never to return. So what do you need with this little trinket?"

"Why do you want it? It only works for me."

"What gives you that idea?" Johnny raised an eyebrow. "If you were the only one that could make the orb speak its words, wouldn't you think that we'd be trying to capture both you and the prophecy?"

Danny kept glaring, "You're bluffing."

"Well, let's just see who's right."

The biker held out the orb and concentrated. For awhile it seemed as though there was nothing happening. Unfortunately, that didn't last for long. Danny's green eyes widened as the ball in Johnny's gloved hand began to glow a robin's egg blue.

"Let's just see why you're so afraid."

"No!" Danny jumped towards him.

The hybrid's attempt to re-attain his prophecy failed; however, he did force Johnny to turn tail and ride out of the castle, stopping him from listening to the words. Danny was soon on Johnny's trail. Luckily for Danny there was some light out, rendering Johnny's shadow useless. Good. At least there would be one less thing for him to worry about. Of course, Johnny still had his bike, and he could ride faster than Danny could fly. Ghost rays were fired left and right at the boy in front of him, but Johnny swiftly dodged each one of them.

"Face it, Phantom, you're nothing without all that negative power coursing through your veins. Just give up and let me take it. You don't really want it anyway."

"You won't get out of this realm in one piece, Johnny! Trust me!" Danny cried back as he fired yet another ghost ray from his palm.

This time Johnny levitated his bike into the air, forcing Danny's attack to miss once again. Next, the ghost turned his bike about-face so he was looking straight at the oncoming boy. Once Danny was almost up to the bike, Johnny fired a laser out of the headlight, stopping the halfa dead in his tracks.

"You weren't expecting that, were you, Halfa?" Johnny snarled.

The next thing Danny knew, he was falling to the ground and landed in the puffy snow below. The boy was teetering on the line of conscious and unconsciousness, but he was still able to hear the faint sound of Johnny's bike rolling away.

"No," Danny spoke quietly to himself. "I won't let you out of here…I won't…I WON'T!"

Without warning, Danny could feel all the energy he'd had when he'd absorbed Plasmius' powers rush back to him. His eyes turned a deep, scarlet red and he stood up in the snow. He focused his sights on Johnny's ever-shrinking form in the distance, stuck his right hand out in front of him and acted as though he hit a fly out from in front of his face. Instantly, Johnny and his bike went sailing through the air and crash landed into the snow. Danny smirked and suddenly apparated from where he was to the other side of the plain where Johnny lay.

"I believe this is mine," Danny spoke in his three voices: The low, evil voice; the high-pitched, eerie voice; and his normal, quiet voice. He reached down and ripped his prophecy out of Johnny's hand.

"H-how…how is this possible?" Johnny croaked. "You…you destroyed all that power…"

Danny grabbed Johnny by his dirty, biker coat and held him up to his face.

"Tell whoever sent you to watch out because the next ghost that comes here seeking my prophecy will be destroyed just like Plasmius's ghost was."

Johnny nodded nervously and with that Danny forced his prey to levitate in the air. Then, with an action like throwing a baseball, Johnny was tossed out of the realm back out into the many dimensions of the Ghost Zone. With the satisfaction that he had saved his orb, Danny fell to his knees and panted heavily. The last thing he remembered seeing was Frostbite and a few of his guards rushing towards him before everything went black…

* * *

**DGG:** Please review if you have the time, that is.


	5. Plans

Danny opened his eyes and blinked a few times. What happened? He remembered something about Johnny 13 being there…but everything seemed to get fuzzy after that. He placed a hand to his throbbing head. Suddenly, he realized he was inside Frostbite's castle, probably on his own snowy-bed, but he didn't feel like checking, nor did he truly care. He was more preoccupied with remembering the day's earlier events. Wait. Was it still the same day? How long had he been out?

"Danny," a voice reached out to him; however, the halfa seemed more preoccupied with his questions than to notice it.

"Danny," it spoke again.

This time he heard it. He blinked and removed his hand from in front of his face. After that Frostbite's worried face came into view.

"Frostbite?" Danny squinted. "What happened?"

"You had a scuffle with Johnny 13. He nearly made off with your prophecy."

Danny sat up straight. He remembered. Johnny was just about to escape when his evil powers flooded back to him.

"How?" Danny demanded. "I thought I destroyed that power. How did it come back to me?"

"No matter what, Danny, you can never truly escape that power. Although it is a great burden, it could also be used for good. You just need to learn how to control it."

"No way," Danny shook his head. "I didn't like having that much power in the first place, and I didn't like it this time either. What makes you think I'd want to willingly call it out?"

"Just in case you need it. It called itself out when you, alone could not stop Johnny. It retrieved your prophecy and ejected the ghost from our plain," explained the beast. "See? Although it is 'evil,' it was using its strength for good purposes."

"But I didn't want it to," Danny objected. "I called it out of my body and blew it up for a reason. I didn't want it!"

"Danny, whether you want it or not, you need it."

"No, I don't! That power is way too much for me and way too evil for my taste. It came from Vlad, after all."

Frostbite remained silent, but blinked in surprise when the young stood up.

"What are you doing?"

"I need some time to think."

"You're going out into the Ghost Zone again? That isn't a good idea. You're still weak."

Danny shrugged. "Well, if what you say is true, won't the evil inside me just reemerge when I can't handle the situation?"

"No, Danny. The power you possess cannot be used sporadically. You need time to rest and regroup."

"No, I don't want that power," Danny reiterated. "Besides, I don't need it. Everyone's still afraid of me."

"Not as much as they used to be. As you have noticed, ghosts have come here to attack you specifically," Frostbite interjected.

"And I'm sure Johnny must have told everyone what happened. They'll probably leave me completely alone again."

"Danny, I implore you to stay here."

"I'll see you later, Frostbite."

"Danny!"

The hybrid turned intangible and flew through the walls before anything could be done. Why did Danny have to be so hard headed? The white yeti sighed and hoped that Danny's hypothesis was correct.

* * *

Tucker's plan couldn't have proved more difficult. After the two teens were released from the hospital two days later, they were kept under close surveillance. Word of the ghost-attack had gotten around town and everyone was in a tizzy from it. A story surfaced saying that Danny came back and attempted to kill his two friends in hopes to make them apart of his ghost-army that he was building up to attack the city. Absurd, yes, but some sort of crazy story was bound to happen. However, people believed it and figured Danny would come back to finish what he started.

Tuck's parents didn't really buy into the story and although they were a little overprotective of their only son now, they at least let him go outside alone. Sam's parents on the other hand kept her under close watch 24/7. They went as far as to hire guards to watch her at all times; there were four in all. When she was in her room, two burly, black-suited men in sunglasses stood stiffly on either side of her doorway. It was torture. She couldn't even talk on the phone for fear of her body guards reporting anything she said back to her parents.

"Man, the town's really goin' crazy again," spoke Tuck. He and Jazz were currently sitting on the stoop of Fenton Works.

"I still can't believe they think Danny's evil," sighed Jasmine. "I mean, they've known him since he was a baby. He wouldn't even hurt a fly."

"Maybe a ghost-fly," chuckled Tuck.

Jazz laughed.

"So I hear your parents are doing absolutely nothing to help the town with their ghost fears," the African-American changed the subject.

A frown returned to the red-head's face. "Yeah. The town wanted them to build something to catch Danny. Obviously at the mention of her son, my mom broke down in tears, and my dad told everyone that they have currently retired form ghost-hunting, then kicked everyone out."

"That's pretty sick that they asked them to capture their own son."

"Tell me about it. I almost ran after those people to chew them apart, myself."

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from Tuck's beloved PDA. He took the electronic device from his right pocket and looked at the screen.

"It's a video stream from Sam."

Jazz scooted closer in order to view the small screen with Tuck. Then, he pushed a button and Sam's gaunt face appeared.

"Hey, Sam," greeted Jazz. "How'd you manage to lose your body guards?"

"They think I'm using the restroom, so I bought myself a little bit of alone time."

"Think you can sneak past 'em, so you can come over here for awhile?" asked Tuck.

"No, and if I did I probably wouldn't get very far," Sam scoffed. "There are video cameras everywhere outside. Plus my parents minimized any chance of me escaping. Two of their four cronies stand guard outside the window, so I can't get out. You guys better go without me."

"What if a diversion occurred allowing you enough time to get to Danny's?" the tech-geek smirked.

"Sounds like you have a plan," the Goth answered deviously.

"I always do."

Sam suddenly looked to her left, panic on her face.

"Looks like you'll have to relay your idea to me on my next 'bathroom break.' They're getting worried out there and are probably about to break the door down. I'll see you guys in a couple hours."

"Gotcha, Sam."

"Bye," Jazz added in before Tuck's PDA went blank.

"Do you really have a plan?" asked the red-head.

"Yeah," he smiled. "There's nothing that can stand in the way of my mad, computer skills."

* * *

"Me want shiny orb!" cried a large ghost-dragon with a golden medallion around its neck.

"Sorry, ugly, but you're not getting it!" yelled Danny.

Once again, Frostbite had been correct. It was a bad idea for Danny to leave. Plus, Danny had been wrong after all; the ghosts weren't afraid of him, even after his evil powers did a number on Johnny 13. In fact, Danny's old foe had ambushed him not long after he left The Realm of the Far Frozen. Currently, the dragon had Danny wrapped in its tail, preventing him from attacking. The snow-haired ghost struggled and struggled but to no avail.

"Tell me why you want it!" demanded Danny.

The only answer he received was the dragon's intense flame-breath coming dangerously close to scorching him.

"Give shiny orb!" the dragon bellowed.

"Never!"

The large reptile roared in anger as it began to flap its transparent wings and fly away. At this, Danny struggled even harder to break free from the dragon's clutches.

"Where are you taking me?"

The dragon roared again and continued its flight.

"I'm not giving you my prophecy! I don't care where we're going. You're not getting it!" shouted the halfa.

"Orb important. Must get orb. No fail," said the dragon.

By now Danny was getting extremely annoyed.

"Let go!"

Nothing.

"I said 'let go!'"

Still nothing.

"Let go!" Danny cried, but instead of just words, a new power occurred. Sound waves poured from his open mouth like water into a cup. The sound was loud and powerful and caused the large beast to stop dead in its tracks. Danny's wailing caused the overgrown lizard to practically writhe in pain. Within no time, it released its prey from its constricting grip, but Danny didn't stop; he was much too angry to give up now. The dragon kept writhing until the wail eventually caused the medallion to fly off its neck and out of sight. Without it, the dragon morphed into a petite, blonde-haired, blue clad maiden. Without the large body of the dragon, she, too, was blown out of sight by the wail.

At long last, Danny finally ceased his wailing and opened his eyes lazily. He looked around and saw he was totally alone now. He sighed and was about to turn around and fly back to Frostbite's castle when a sudden dizzy spell hit his extremely weary head. Without any warning, Danny suddenly fell unconscious, and for the first time in almost three months, he changed back into his human form. The teenage boy fell helplessly through the ghost-zone, deeper and deeper into oblivion.

* * *

**DGG:** Please review :)


	6. Missing

**DGG: **Wow. I haven't updated in like 2 months. It makes me feel bad that I kept the people that are actually reading this waiting so long. Again, I'm a horrible procrastinator. Sorry. Here's chapter 5.

* * *

Panic and alarm washed through Frostbite like an icy wind. Where could Danny be? He never stayed out this long before. The snow-beast paced around his castle, and the worst only came to mind: he must have been captured, or worse. Frostbite tried to shake the foreboding feeling, but all attempts failed. Finally, he decided on what he must do. Danny needed help, and he would go find him.

* * *

"Ready?" asked Tuck.

"Ready," Jazz answered.

"Go."

The red-head ran frantically from the end of the block to the front door of the Manson residence and banged feverously on the door. After a few short moments, Samantha's blonde father, Jeremy, answered.

"Jazz?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Manson, I just wanted to warn you before it was too late, but my brother was spotted downtown!" she cried.

"What!" Mrs. Manson ran to the doorway. "He's back?"

Jazz nodded, "And I heard he was headed this way."

Suddenly, as if on cue, the electricity went out for the entire block. All three people looked around in alarm.

"He's here, isn't he?" Mrs. Manson spoke with a tremor in her voice.

Jazz nodded gravely, "I would think so."

Next Mrs. Manson's expression turned from one of fear to determination as she turned to her husband, "We need to tighten security around Samantha."

"I'm on it," he rushed upstairs.

"Your brother will be getting nowhere near my daughter this or any other time."

"I'm sure he won't. After all, you reinforced her room, right?" Jazz asked.

"What?"

"Danny has ghost-powers, remember? He could just float right through the wall, attack the guards, take Sam, and leave. But I'm sure you already thought of that."

Mrs. Manson stood frozen in the doorway.

"You _did_ think about that, right?"

"Of…of course," the middle-aged woman trembled. "He'll…he'll never be able to phase through these walls."

"Might I make a suggestion just in case you feel she's not as safe as you initially thought she was?"

The older red-head stared at her.

"There's a safe room at my house – no ghost can penetrate it. My parents made it prior to Danny running away. It's probably the safest place in Amity Park now, "Jazz explained.

Mrs. Manson quickly thought over her words, "You're sure it's safe?"

"Oh yeah. The force field is so powerful that even in his human form, my brother can't step inside."

"Well, why didn't you say something sooner? We need to get Sam there immediately!"

"No sweat, Mrs. M," smiled Jazz. "I'd be happy to escort her back to my house."

"Oh, no, I'm not letting her go alone with you. You'll both be under the protection of a bodyguard."

"If you say so, Mrs. Manson, but I'm sure that won't be necessary, "Jazz smiled politely.

"Why is that?"

The sixteen-year-old hesitated. That was a good question. After thinking through her options, she came up with a quick explanation.

"Do you see the headband I'm wearing? Well, it's not just a headband. My parents rigged it awhile back. It's actually a device to create an invisible force field around me, cleverly disguised like a normal, everyday hair accessory. It's an early prototype my mom created, but it works perfectly."

The upper-class woman eyed her, clearly not believing her little story story.

Jazz sensed this and quickly added, "Why do you think Danny's left me alone? Sam'll be fine as long as she's near me."

Mrs. Manson sighed, "Fine, but if anything happens to my daughter, I will hold you personally responsible!"

"Don't worry. She'll be just fine."

Without any hesitation, the older woman dashed out of the doorway to retrieve her only daughter. Jazz waited a few minutes before both Sam's parents returned with their daughter lagging behind.

"Be careful, Sam," her father hugged her.

The fourteen year old cringed slightly at the close contact due to her strong anti-social will, but hugged him back nonetheless. After her farewells, the two teens stepped off the front stoop, turned about-face, and began walking away. The two made no effort to speak as they made their way down the sidewalk; both Mr. and Mrs. Manson were watching them like hawks. Finally, they made it to the end of the block, and when they turned the corner, they both let out sighs of relief. The two were joined by Tucker shortly after.

"So," Sam smirked playfully, "what's this I hear about a protective headband?"

Tuck chuckled, "What?"

"It was the only thing I could think of off the top of my head…no pun intended," the sixteen-year-old explained.

"Either way, it got you out of the house, Sam," Tuck smiled, still trying to hold back laughs.

"Nice power outage, by the way," Sam complimented.

"Oh yeah! I should probably turn that back on now."

The geek promptly took his PDA from his pocket, tapped the screen, and restored power to the block, "I love hacking into things."

"Come on, guys, let's go find Danny," Jazz spoke, determined.

* * *

Frostbite was nearly frantic. Danny appeared to have vanished into thin air. The group of yeti-like ghosts had been searching for hours, and the guards were on the verge of telling him to give up. They were as concerned about Danny as their leader, but all hope seemed lost. The group had searched nearly every door in the ghost zone and none of them contained the young hybrid. The worst thoughts kept on surfacing in the ruler's mind.

"He must have been captured," Frostbite concluded. "The syndicate that keeps coming for Danny's prophecy must have taken him."

"How can you be so certain?" asked an attendant. "Perhaps he finally returned home."

"That's not true," spoke a voice.

The group of snow creatures turned their attention to a nerdy, fifties-style black-and-white teenage ghost.

"Sidney Pointdexter," blinked Frostbite.

"He didn't go back to Amity Park," the boy reiterated in his nasally voice. "But don't worry; the syndicate doesn't have him either."

"So…where is he?"

"I watched a struggle he had with the dragon ghost, and he learned a new power – some sort of ghostly wail. Anyhoo, he lost consciousness and fell…way down."

Frostbite glanced downward with a look of terror on his face.

"No…he…couldn't be there."

"He has to be. Where else could he have fallen?"

Frostbite glanced at his furry cohorts.

"No one returns from there," Frostbite lowered his ears and bowed his head.

"I thought that wasn't necessarily true," pointed out Sidney.

Frostbite sighed, "It doesn't have to be. But there is no one to help…now he's gone forever."

"All right, is everybody ready?" asked Tucker.

He and his two female companions were all in the Fenton basement.

"Yeah," smiled Jazz.

Sam remained silent.

"Hello?" Tucker waved his hands. "Anybody home?"

"Huh? What?" Sam looked at him.

"Are you okay?" asked the red-head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," the Goth answered absently. "I just…I have this feeling – a sort of dark and empty feeling. I think something's happened to Danny."

Tuck and Jazz exchanged glances before the oldest teen sat down beside the Goth to comfort her.

"Danny's fine, Sam," she spoke. "He's a fighter; you know that."

"Sure, but he's not indestructible."

A moment of silence passed through the three teens. Realization struck all of them like a bat to the head. Danny could be in big trouble, or perhaps even worse.

"Well, if Danny needs our help, then he's about to get it," smiled Tucker confidently. "We're gonna go in there, find Danny, and bring him home."

The girls smiled at Tuck's determination. With their minds made up, the three got into the Specter Speeder and flew through the Fenton Portal into the Ghost Zone to find their long lost friend.


	7. The Desperate Search

**DGG:** Here we go. A double update to say I'm sorry for waiting so long. :)

* * *

"Tell me, where is Danny Phantom?" bellowed the teen idol of the ghostly world.

"I don't know," snarled Frostbite.

Ember strummed her guitar and sent the beast flying through the snowy air.

"You're protecting him! Now tell me where you've hidden him!"

"I told you, I've done nothing with him!"

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to do this the hard way," Ember smirked. "Boys, tear her down!"

Frostbite's eyes widened as he turned around to see an army of ghosts heading for The Hall of Prophecies.

"Where is he?" she repeated.

The beast looked the pale girl straight in the eye; he watched her blue, flaming pony tail flicker with the wind, noting the seriousness in her features, "I already told you my answer."

"And it's not the right one!"

At the sound of her anger, the ghosts began attacking the building.

"No, stop!" Frostbite jumped towards the ghosts, but Ember strummed another chord on her guitar; the waves knocked the beast off balance and drained his energy.

"I don't think so," she stood in front of his weakened form. "So are you going to tell me now?"

"I…can't," he strained.

The ghostly armada kept demolishing the hall and anyone that got in their way.

"The more you delay, the more they destroy."

"He isn't here!"

"I can see that, Frostbite, so tell me where he is!"

Frostbite stood up shakily until Ember zapped him again with her guitar.

"You would allow every prophecy to be destroyed just to save Danny's neck?" Ember raised an eyebrow. "He's not worth that."

Frostbite stared helplessly at the sacred building in front of him. He knew he had to get there; however, it was impossible. He was too weak. His duty as the Prophecy Keeper was now no more. He had failed.

* * *

"Where could Danny be?" Tucker wondered aloud.

"Nothing's honing in on his ecto-signature," said Jazz. "Maybe he's not in the Ghost Zone."

"He is," spoke Sam. The two looked at her quizzically. "I have a feeling in my gut, and it's telling me he's in here somewhere."

"Okay, well is your gut also telling us where to look? Because we could use all the help we can get right now," said Tuck.

Sam shook her head.

"Okay we've been searching for about an hour and we're nowhere near even being half way through here," Jazz recapped. "What do you think we should do?"

"We have to keep going," answered the Goth.

"Sure," agreed Tucker hesitantly, "but how much time do we have until your parents realize we're gone, Jazz?"

"Are you kidding?" she raised an eyebrow. "They don't pay attention to anything but their sorrow. Plus, I don't think they've even been in the basement since my brother disappeared. We're home free with them."

"I believe your attempt to find young Daniel is all in vain, Children," spoke a new voice.

"That voice," Tuck gasped.

"It can't be," said Sam.

"Oh, but it can," an all-too-familiar face appeared before the windshield.

"Vlad Plasmius?" blinked Jazz.

"The one and only, "he smirked.

"How can you be here?" Sam asked numbly. "We all watched Danny destroy you!"

Plasmius smirked, "That is a very interesting story. It would appear that when Danny used all the negative energy in his body to destroy my ghost, my ghoul created a copy of itself. The original flew back to me while the doppelganger was destroyed. I ran off in defeat, causing Danny to believe he'd won. However, my powers were weak and I couldn't have done anything to him if I tried, so I've been resting up ever since our last encounter."

"It was you who attacked Sam and Tuck, wasn't it?" Jazz accused.

The ghost smirked, "Guilty as charged."

"Why?"

"To toy with the town, of course. They all believe your brother to be the culprit."

"You have Danny, don't you?" Tuck asked darkly.

"Alas, I do not," Plasmius put his hands up." I, like you, am searching for him."

"Why do you need him? So you can finish what you started and destroy him?" asked Sam.

A chuckle escaped him, "That and he has something I need."

"Like what?" enquired the red-head.

"Something that could determine my entire future. You see, Amity Park is my main prize, and Daniel is its top ghost hunter. If I were to take back your town, he would surely come flying back to save the day. However, I need to know if he is still a true threat to me, so I can move out my attack."

"You're forgetting one little thing," reminded Tuck. The older ghost raised an eyebrow. "We're still here, and we'll never let you back in to Amity Park!"

"Valiant words but you'll never be able to stop me. I'm one hundred times more powerful than the three of you combined."

"Then we'll find Danny," Sam shot back.

"Don't count on it," Ember flew in.

"Well, did Frostbite comply?" Plasmius asked eagerly, but calmly.

"Ha, are you kidding? He went all-out to protect that halfa; every prophecy has been destroyed."

"So you got absolutely nothing from him?" his tone went from eager, to annoyed.

"Nope, but on the way out I found Sidney Pointdexter, and I was able to persuade him to tell me that both Danny and his prophecy are in The Realm of Nightmares."

"Really?" Plasmius asked, amused. "So the runt is trapped for all eternity? Looks like you three won't be seeing young Daniel again."

The three teens all exchanged confused yet worried glances.

"Come, Ember," ordered Vlad, "we must rally the other ghosts. It's time to move out."

The evil halfa laughed dramatically as he took hold of his white cape with his right hand, pulled it in front of himself and his minion and disappeared.

"The Realm of Nightmares?" repeated Sam.

"It doesn't sound too inviting," commented Jazz. "Why do you think Danny's there?"

"I don't know," responded the tech-geek, "but Plasmius mentioned a name – Frostbite. It sounds like he's been protecting Danny. I suggest we find him and start asking questions."

"It's a good idea, but how are we gonna find him? We don't even know the first place to look," the red-head pointed out.

"Then we'll start asking around," Sam spoke with determination.

The teens all nodded and began their quest to locate Frostbite.

* * *

**DGG:** Reviews would be lovely :)


	8. The Realm of Nightmares

**DGG:** All right, here's the next chapter. And it's a freakishly long chapter too. I didn't originally expect it to be so long, but I couldn't split this chapter up. So, this may or may not be the longest chapter in the whole story. It probably will be though. I'm not sure yet. Only time will tell. And I hope that the second half of this chapter isn't confusing. Just remember it switches back and forth between point of views after every "DPDPDPDP". I believe that's all you need to know.

To Heracelio: In the first story, Danny was the blue lion. He could transform into anything, just like Bertram.

* * *

The three teens ventured through the Ghost Zone for a few hours trying to find the information they required. Most of the spirits they happened to run into had heard of Frostbite but were unable to say where he resided. When they caught a lucky break and found out where he was, no one would tell them how to get there. Apparently The Realm of the Far Frozen was sacred ground, and three humans had no business there whatsoever. This being the case, none of the ghosts wanted Frostbite to punish them for trespassing where they were not welcome; however, they eventually succeeded in tracking Frostbite's plain down, and headed straight there.

"This is it?" asked Tucker as he looked around the frigid plain.

"I don't like this," piped up Sam. "It looks like everything's been wiped out."

"Man, Ember really must have done a number on this place," noted Jazz. "So where do you think we'll find Frostbite?"

"I don't know," answered Tuck, "but he has to be here."

Tucker navigated the Specter Speeder through the harsh, snowy winds, keeping his eyes peeled for any sort of life. They sped around for a few minutes before Jazz finally spotted something.

"Look down there," she pointed.

"It looks like the remains of some sort of building," said Tuck.

"Yeah, and take a look over there," Sam motioned out the left window at a partially covered creature lying in the snow.

"Whoa, do you think it could be Frostbite?" asked Tucker.

"There's only one way to find out," answered Jazz.

The African American nodded and landed the Speeder a few feet from the unconscious form in the snow. Without much hesitation, or thought, the teens opened both the side doors and jumped out; however, the subzero winds cut through all of them like a knife.

"Brr. I guess we should have brought winter coats," Tuck shivered.

"There's no time to think about being cold now," reprimanded Sam. "We have to help Frostbite, especially if he knows something about Danny."

The other two teens agreed, and rushed towards the massive, white beast. When they reached him, they each took a side and started brushing off the ice cold snow. It didn't take too long before their hands – along with the rest of their bodies – grew extremely numb, but even with the threat of their fingers turning black from actual frostbite they eventually uncovered him from the bulk of snow that had already blanketed him

"Wh-wh-what d-d-do w-we d-do n-now?" asked Tuck.

"W-wake him u-up," said Sam. She grabbed a hold of his right shoulder and began shaking. Tuck and Jazz joined in on his left side and in no time the beast's eyes fluttered open.

He looked at the three, "Humans?" he spoke wearily with a tiny bit of confusion. "How did you get here?"

"A-are you F-Frost-b-bite?" asked Jazz, ignoring the beast's question and rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

He nodded weakly.

"W-we're s-searching f-for Danny," she continued, "and P-Plasmius m-mentioned y-you."

I'm afraid Danny is gone," Frostbite told them sadly. "He's trapped in The Realm of Nightmares. It's a most terrible place. Many a ghost has fallen victim to it and was never seen again. It seals you in darkness and forces you to live out your worst fears for all eternity."

"S-s-so w-what are you s-saying?" asked Sam in alarm. "He's g-gone for-r-ever?"

"I'm afraid so," Frostbite strained.

"No…" Sam fell to her knees.

"Th-there h-has to b-be a way t-to g-get him-m b-back!" exclaimed Jazz, equally alarmed. "I r-refuse t-to be-l-lieve th-that my b-brother's g-gone f-forever!"

"Brother?" Frostbite seemed to perk up, suddenly realizing how living humans could be standing around him. "Sam, Tuck and Jazz?"

The three nodded.

Frostbite smiled, "He spoke of you three quite often. You all have a very strong bond with him."

"O-of c-course, w-we've pr-practically kn-known h-him s-since f-f-forever," said Tucker.

"Then there may be hope at rescuing him."

The three teens stared at him, bemused.

"Only individuals with an extremely strong attachment to the ghost trapped within the realm's hold can reach him or her. That is why I could not go after Danny. I, myself, would have perished along with him. Your strong bond though may just be enough to get through and save him," explained Frostbite.

"H-how d-do w-we g-get th-there?" asked Sam.

"Leave this realm and travel downward until you find a black fog, but do not travel into it. Once you have arrived you must call his name. When the fog reveals him that is when you must try to talk him back to this reality."

"W-what w-would h-happen i-if w-we c-c-couldn't s-save h-him?" asked Jazz timidly.

"Unfortunately, if your attempts fail, you will also be consumed and will be forced to live your nightmares infinitely."

The three gulped.

"That is why it takes such a strong bond. You must look fear straight in the eye, but don't worry. Something tells me that you'll be successful."

* * *

"No, no please! You've got it all wrong!"

Danny Fenton lay unconscious in a dark mist. His eyes were closed, but the images forced into his head couldn't have been more realistic. In his mind Danny Phantom was back in Amity Park, and he was a long way from being welcomed back warmly.

Danny Phantom was currently running through the halls of Casper High. A large majority of the school was hot on his trail, and none other than the fit, dimwitted-blonde head of the football team was leading the pack.

"I don't want to hurt you!" the ghost cried.

"Don't believe his dirty lies!" exclaimed Dash Baxter. "We have to get rid of him before he gets rid of us!"

Danny ran faster, but the mob of students and staff refused to give up. At this rate, they would catch him in no time. With that in mind, he jumped into the air and turned his legs into a ghostly tail, which would enable him to zoom down the never-ending hallway much quicker.

"Oh no you don't, Fen-toni," Dash reached out and grabbed Danny by his tail, yanking him backwards and flinging him into a row of lockers.

Danny sat up on the tile floor, rubbing his now aching head. He gasped when he realized the gaggle of people had formed a semi-circle around him; all of them looking ready to rip his throat out.

"Please," begged Danny, "I'm still the Danny Fenton you've all come to know! I swear I'd been protecting all of you!"

"Save it, Fenton," barked his out-of-shape teacher, Mr. Lancer. "We all saw your true colors. You can't fool us with your 'niceness' ploy anymore!"

The semi-circle moved in on him.

"No, stay back!" Danny trembled. "You have to believe me! I'd never hurt any of you!"

"But you would harm a defenseless old man?" Valerie Gray raised an eyebrow.

"You don't understand!" Danny nearly shrieked in desperation.

"What's not to understand?" asked Latina-popular-girl, Paulina. "You've come back here to waste all of us!"

"Yeah, Fenton, we've been preparing for ya' ever since you left," smirked Dash.

"Yeah, especially me," Valerie hit a button on the wristwatch on her left hand. Instantly the teenage girl was enveloped in a red-hooded uniform. It sported black gloves and boots; no skin was visible. Underneath her feet a sort of hover board unfolded. She pulled out a massive ecto-gun, that required both hands to hold and aimed it right for the halfa.

"Any last words, Ghost?" she asked.

Danny sat frozen in alarm. His breathing quickened and his green eyes were locked on the weapon. Without much hesitation, Valerie began powering up the gun. This snapped Danny out of his trance.

"You can't destroy what you can't find," Danny tried to phase through the wall but to no avail. "What? What's going on?"

"Sorry, did we forget to mention that we've devoted all studies here to ghost hunting?" smirked Mr. Lancer. "A substance known as ecto-ranium was coated underneath all the floors and behind every wall. It acts as a sort of brick wall for ghosts, disabling their ability to phase through solid objects. I believe it was all your mother's idea."

Danny sat in horror, pressing up against the row of lockers as close as he could.

"You can't do this," begged the hybrid.

"Oh but we can, and we shall."

Valerie pulled the trigger.

"No!" Danny screamed.

DPDPDPDP

"So this is it," announced Tucker as he stopped the Specter Speeder before the massive black mist.

Jazz and Sam stepped away from the heat vent and stood next to Tucker.

"So now we have to call out to Danny?" asked Jazz.

Tucker nodded; Sam wasted no time. She cupped her hands around her mouth and began yelling for him.

"Danny! Danny, it's me Sam!"

"Come on, Danny, your best friends are here to save the day!" Tuck cried heroically.

"Don't forget about me, Danny. I'm here for you too!" called his sister.

DPDPDPDP

Danny wasn't really sure how he'd done it, but he had miraculously managed to escape the school. At the present time, he was running down the street as fast as he could without looking back. He had to get to Fenton Works. His family wouldn't turn their backs on him. Would they? The young hybrid ran to the end of the block and up to the front door, and caught his breath. While standing on the stoop, he made sure to keep a look out for any of the people from school, but no one ever showed. Content for the moment, he turned to enter, but a terrible thought rushed through his mind. Lancer had said that his mom helped design the defense system at the school. Could that mean that his family had turned on him? He tried to shake the thought from his mind, but it just kept nagging at him like an annoying fly. After a few minutes of debating with himself, he decided he wouldn't find out anything just standing outside. He gulped, turned the door knob, and opened the door.

"Mom, Dad," he called timidly as he peered inside. It was completely dark. He didn't believe they weren't there, so this was more-than-likely a trap. Danny gulped again as he stepped inside.

DPDPDPDP

"Danny! Danny!" the three chanted together.

"Why isn't' it working?" demanded Tucker.

"We just have to keep going," Sam told him. "Danny, you're not alone anymore!"

The teens did just that; however, the more time that passed, the more their hopes sank. Still, nothing happened. Maybe Danny wasn't really here? Or maybe they were doing something wrong? Whatever the case was, the whole situation looked bleak.

"Well, what do you guys think?" asked Tucker.

"We can't just leave, Tuck!" exclaimed Sam. "This is Danny! We can't turn our backs on him!"

"I know that, but nothing's happening. What if…what if we don't have as strong a bond with Danny as we thought?"

"Don't even talk like that!" scolded Jazz. "We just have to keep trying a little while longer. Danny needs us."

Tuck nodded and looked back into the looming black mist. A new sense of determination washed over him, and he resumed calling out to his oldest friend. The females joined back in, determination also in their hearts. After a few more grueling moments, it all paid off – the thick fog finally parted. They watched in awe as a path was cleared before them, and Tucker moved them forward until they found Danny floating in a dream state at the end of the path.

DPDPDPDP

When Danny's boot hit the tile floor, red lights started flashing and alarms went off left and right. He gasped as both his parents did barrel rolls from either side of the room, landed on their feet, and pointed ecto-guns directly at him.

DPDPDPDP

"Hey, listen to him," said Tuck.

"No," spoke Danny as though he would burst into tears, "not you guys too."

The three exchanged glances, thinking he was talking to them; however, a little more of Danny's one-sided conversation proved them wrong.

DPDPDPDP

"What do you think you're doing here?" asked Jack.

"Mom, Dad, you don't really think I'm evil, do you?"

"We saw the damage you caused while fighting Vlad," explained Maddie, who was standing to his left. "You're a menace to society."

"No, I'm not! Mom, you know me; I'm your baby boy, remember?"

"We didn't raise a cold-blooded killer!" exclaimed Jack.

"How could you say that? I'm not a killer! You know that!"

DPDPDPDP

"Wait, so is he having a nightmare that your parents think he's a killer?" Tuck raised an eyebrow.

"He's living out his worst fears," Jazz explained. "He talked about this before he left, remember? He felt like everyone turned against him."

"So all we have to do is convince him they haven't?" smiled Tucker.

"Easier said than done," pointed out Sam. "Look."

DPDPDPDP

"Mom," Danny sobbed, taking a step forward.

"Stay away from her or I'll shoot!" warned his father. He stopped and bowed his head. Hot tears went streaming down his face. When he lifted his head upright, he noticed his two best friends and his older sister on the stairwell across the room.

"Sam, Jazz, Tucker," he smiled, "you're here! Tell them how Plasmius framed me! Tell them please!"

"Sorry, Danny," his sister shook her head, "but I'm with Mom and Dad on this one."

Danny's mouth nearly hung agape, his eyes practically bulged out of his sockets. "What?"

"We saw how you almost attacked Vlad even after all the evil left your body," continued Sam.

"He'd been framing me!" Danny countered. "You know that! I had every right to be mad at him! Please don't turn your backs on me!"

"Dude, if you were about to harm a defenseless man, what's stopping you from hurting us?" asked Tuck.

"No!" screamed Danny. "Stop it! Stop it please!"

"We can't trust you anymore, little brother."

"Stop!" the hybrid fell to his knees. "Please, Jazz, take it back! Take it back!"

DPDPDPDP

"Danny!" Jazz cried.

She immediately opened the left-side door and jumped outside.

"Jazz, what are you doing?" cried the Goth. "You could get swallowed up by that mist too!"

"I can't just sit back here and watch Danny suffer, so it's a risk I'm willing to take!" Jazz shouted back as she floated out to the tortured form of her baby brother. Once there, she positioned herself as though she were sitting on her knees, placed his head in her lap, and rested her forehead on his.

"Danny, it's not true. Whatever it is you think I said it isn't true!"

DPDPDPDP

"I can't believe you fooled us, Danny," Sam rubbed her hands up and down her upper arms nervously.

"Yeah, you really had us believin' that you were the victim when in actuality, everything that Plasmius said about you was true!" jabbed Tucker.

"What about all the times we fought ghosts together?"

"Just another ploy," the African American folded his arms. "You brought Sam and me along with you to make us think you were protecting the town, but I found out the truth. You were actually trying to show all those other ghosts that this town is your turf; it was a warning. But since they didn't take the hint, you showed everyone your ugly side. Now that all the other ghosts are gone, when are you gonna try and take over?"

"Take over? I don't want to take over Amity Park, I want to protect it! You know that, Tucker, please!"

DPDPDPDP

"Danny, of course I know that," Tucker floated to Danny's left side. "I've known it from the beginning and I haven't doubted it yet!"

"We're here for you, Danny," Sam appeared on his right side. "We always have and always will be."

DPDPDPDP

Danny couldn't believe it. His parents, his closest friends, and even his sister thought he was public enemy number one. He had nothing left. No one wanted him anymore. Everyone wanted him gone. Why not give them what they wanted?

"Do it," he spoke quietly. "Destroy me and get it over with."

DPDPDPDP

"No!" yelled Jazz. "Danny, don't give in!"

"Everyone hates me," the raven-haired boy spoke.

"That's not true!" cried Sam.

The darkness around the four teens seemed to be growing restless as Danny fell deeper into despair.

"No one wants me, so go ahead and shoot."

"Danny, that's crazy talk," Tucker choked back tears. "We want you here. You gotta come back with us, man."

The mist started closing in on them.

"Danny, snap out of it," Jazz sobbed. "You're not all alone in the world."

"It's not working; we're losing him!" Tucker alerted as the mist slowly inched closer to engulf all four of them.

"Danny, come on, we're right here beside you," the sixteen year old grabbed a hold of her brother's head and a tear slipped off her nose on to her brother's cheek.

DPDPDPDP

"All right, this'll be over faster than you can blink," Jack fired up his weapon.

Danny kept his head bowed, waiting for the inevitable. He sniffed and swallowed down the lump in his throat, but just as Danny readied himself for the for the attack, something odd happened. His right cheek felt oddly warm and he placed a hand on it.

"_Danny, I'm here for you. You're not alone."_

The boy looked towards his sister on the stairs.

_Don't worry, I'm right here!"_

"Jazz…I…I don't understand," he blinked. "What's happening?"

His sister stood tight-lipped on the stairs, but her voice rang out all around him.

"_Danny, can you hear me?"_ Tuck's voice echoed from nowhere.

"Tucker?"

"_I'm here too, Danny," _spoke Sam. _"Listen, the images you've seen, they aren't real! Whatever painful things you've experienced didn't really happen."_

Danny placed his head in his hands.

"_We're here for you, man. Don't give in!"_ came Tuck's voice.

The hybrid looked up. Everything around him had frozen in time like someone hit pause. His father's finger was glued to the trigger, just about to pull. His mother seemed to almost look excited about her son's eminent demise. When he looked in between them towards the stairs, he saw what looked like a hole in time. He saw an image of himself suspended in the air surrounded by Jazz, Tuck, and Sam. Even more confused than before, he slowly stepped towards the strange transparent image.

"_Please wake up, little brother. Please wake up so we can take you out of here."_

He stared at the picture before him and at the sad, painful expressions on everybody's faces and watched as a strange fog was moving in.

"None of this is real?" he asked.

"_No, Danny, you're suspended in a nightmare,"_ Jazz answered. _"You have to wake up."_

He looked around him at the still-frozen image of his friends and family, then back to the image of him and his friends. He wasn't sure what to really believe, but he decided that finding his way to the three teens in the picture was better than staying in the house and being wasted by his parents. Still confused, and not sure what would happen, he reached out with his right hand and grasped the translucent image.

DPDPDPDP

"The fog is leaving," smiled Tuck. "We did it. We actually did it!"

"Danny," sighed Sam in relief.

The boy groaned and stirred as he slowly returned to reality.

"Danny?" Jazz blinked.

His blue eyes fluttered open.

"Danny, you're okay!" exclaimed the Goth. He smiled weakly.

"Let's get out of here," suggested Jazz.

The three teens helped the halfa to the Specter Speeder, and quickly left The Realm of Nightmares.

* * *

**DGG:** Please review!


	9. A New Sinister Plan Begins

The four teens traveled soundly through the Ghost Zone. Tucker was driving while Sam and Jazz tended to Danny. The front was crowded due to the fact that Danny was lying on his back – his head in his sister's lap, and Sam at his feet.

"Are you okay?' asked the red-head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Danny rubbed his head while sitting upright, allowing more space for the four teens.

"So what was going on in there?" asked Sam.

Danny looked away as the painful visions flooded back to him full-force. Tucker halted their ghostly vessel and turned his attention to his dear friend.

"It was sheer horror," he started. "Instead of fearing me, everyone hated me and wanted to destroy me. Even you guys turned against me."

"But you know none of that's true, right?" asked Jazz.

Her brother remained silent.

"It was only a nightmare; nightmares aren't real," pointed out Sam.

"But this felt real," Danny kept his eyes away from his friends before suddenly standing up. "I'm going home."

"You mean you're going back to Amity Park?" Tuck perked up.

"No," Danny transformed into a ghost.

"You're going back to Frostbite, aren't you?" his sister questioned.

Danny blinked in surprise, "You know about Frostbite?"

"Yeah, he's the one that told us how to save you," explained Tuck.

"And when we left him, he wasn't in that great of shape," added Sam.

"What do you mean?" the ghost raised an eyebrow, alarmed.

"His home was attacked – everything was in shambles," Jazz informed, "and he was so weak he couldn't get up."

"I have to help him. This is all my fault!" Danny exclaimed.

"Your fault? How is it your fault?" The Goth queried.

"It's all my fault!" Danny repeated as he turned intangible and phased through the wall.

"After him, Tucker, we can't lose him again!" cried the red-head.

"I'm on it," the geek manned the controls and sped off after his best friend.

When the trio arrived in The Realm of the Far Frozen they located Danny right where they had left Frostbite. The white-haired ghost was trying to lift his furry friend from the new snow mound that formed on top of him.

"Danny," Frostbite smiled weakly, "you're back."

The boy remained silent as he continued about his business. A few feet behind the two, the Specter Speeder landed in the soft, puffy snow. From there the three teens helped in moving the large snow-beast to the Speeder so they could transport him to his castle. After the large beast was in the back of the ship, Tucker steered to the front doors of the icy castle where both the yeti and hybrid resided. Upon landing, the four teens helped Frostbite to his room to his bed.

"Frostbite, I am so sorry; this is all my fault," Danny apologized.

"No, Danny, don't talk like that," the beast spoke quietly.

"But it is. If I'd never been born, my prophecy wouldn't exist and if it didn't exist, they wouldn't have destroyed this place just to find it!"

"Prophecy?" Jazz repeated.

"You have a prophecy?" asked Tuck.

"Every ghost does," the halfa informed him.

"Well what's it say?" prodded Sam.

Danny remained silent, turning away from everyone.

"They are your friends. Why not let them hear?"

"No, it doesn't concern them!" snapped the half breed.

The teens all blinked in surprise.

"I'm not going to get them involved in this," he continued, much calmer.

"Danny, I know you are frightened…" the beast began.

"You need rest," Danny cut him off. "Let's go, guys."

The hybrid ushered his friends out of the room. Before he closed the doors, Danny turned around and gave his furry friend a forlorn look. Frostbite gave him a weak but encouraging smile. The boy made no attempt to return it before closing the ice-made double door.

"Danny," started his sister.

"You guys should go back to Amity Park. It's too cold here for you," Danny instructed.

"Are you kidding?" Tucker scoffed. "We're not leaving you!"

"You can't stay here forever."

"Yeah, well neither can you," Sam retorted.

"Correction. I am a ghost which means I can take the harsh environment!"

"No, Danny, that's not what I meant!" cried the Goth. "You don't belong here!"

"And where do I belong, Amity Park?"

"Of course! You were born there, you grew up there, it's your home," Jazz argued.

"No one wants me there!" Danny cried. "I couldn't take all the dirty and frightened looks everyone gave me. That's why I left in the first place."

"'Everyone?'" Tuck raised an eyebrow. "We weren't afraid of you; we were still supporting you."

"Yeah," agreed Jazz, "and Mom and Dad were there for you too."

"Mom and Dad? They kept their distance from me, same as everybody else!"

"Well you should see them now, Danny!" cried Sam. "They're completely miserable!"

"Yeah, they're miserable because they can't catch me! I'm like the million dollar ghost for Amity Park. Of course they'd be upset that I'm gone!"

"Danny, that's not true at all," Tuck spoke calmly.

"Mom and Dad are depressed because their only son ran away!" fumed the red-head.

"Oh, please," Danny brushed her off.

"Dude, your parents have renounced ghost hunting because they're too depressed to do anything!" explained Tucker. "Your mom cries constantly, and your dad just sits on the couch in silence. Your family's completely broken without you, man!"

Jazz and Sam nodded in agreement; Danny cast his eyes away in shame.

"Plus, Plasmius is back," added the geek.

Danny perked up, surprised," What? How?"

"Apparently you destroyed a clone."

"That's not possible. I destroyed his ghost."

"Danny, he attacked Tuck and me," informed Sam. "He sent us to the hospital! He's gonna take over the town again! You have to come back."

"But…he's gone…" Danny continued.

"No, he isn't!" Tuck exclaimed. "We saw him. He spoke to us!"

"This can't be happening," Danny backed away, horror evident on his face.

"Well it is, Danny, and you're the only one who can do something about it," reprimanded his sister.

"No, I can definitely not go back. If Plasmius is there, I can't be."

"What are you talkin' about, man?" asked Tucker.

"Danny, if this is about what happened before…" started Sam.

"It's not!" snapped the hybrid. "Right now, I'm not worried about what happened before. I don't care what the town thinks. I just can't go!"

"Give us one good reason," challenged the tech-geek.

"This!" he held out his prophecy in his right hand.

The teens all raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" asked Jazz.

"It sort of looks like some of those expensive crystal balls my parents have around the house for decoration," remarked Sam.

"It's not a stupid decoration," Danny hissed. "This is apparently the bane of my entire existence!"

"That thing?" Tuck chuckled.

"Yes," Danny shot his friend a look, causing him to instantly quiet down. "This orb is the reason I can't go back to Amity Park."

"I don't believe this," Sam scoffed. "You're telling us that a little piece of glass has forbidden you from leaving the Ghost Zone? What are you spellbound here or something?"

"No."

"Then how on earth can you just stay here?" demanded the Goth. "The town is about to need your help, and you're just going to sit back and watch? If you do that then everything the town thought about you will be true, Danny!"

The last sentence seemed to strike a chord inside the boy's heart. She was right; however, it was a risk he was willing to take.

"Sorry, guys," he spoke sadly, "but I can't return to Amity Park."

"Danny, what's the worst that could happen if you disobey that ball?" asked Jazz.

The halfa turned his back to his friends. "Actually, it told me to go back…"

"What?" Tuck blinked in surprise.

"But the end result is why I'm staying here," he continued.

The trio exchanged confused and concerned looks. What in the world was he talking about? They watched silently as their depressed friend strode solemnly down the hall.

* * *

A knock came from the front door. The two downtrodden adults made no attempt to answer it. In fact, they made no indication that they even heard the rapping at all. The sound came again; the two sat silent.

"Maddie, Jack," a voice called while opening the front door.

The voice caused a tiny reaction in the large, orange-jumpsuit-clad male. He turned his head to the left and made eye contact with his old friend.

"Vladdie?" he squinted.

"Yes, Jack, it's me; I'm back," the billionaire stepped swiftly through the room and sat down in an arm chair across from the unhappy couple.

"Vlad?" sniffed Maddie. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here."

"I thought you might be upset with me, and I assure you my visit won't last long. I just need to clarify a few things with you," explained the silver-haired man.

"What's there to clarify?" asked Maddie. "You attempted to kill our son!"

"Yes, but I had good reason."

The couple each rose an eyebrow at this.

"The boy's ghost powers had corrupted him. You saw what he did. He tried to destroy me," the billionaire explained. "I was merely trying to protect the town, you see?"

"Danny said you were the evil ghost," retorted Jack.

"Isn't that what a vicious, bloodthirsty villain would try to say to deceive the town?"

"As I recall, you turned evil too, Vlad," shot the red-headed woman. "Your intentions appeared to be extremely shady as well."

"Maddie, please, if you're referring to the cages I put everyone in, it was merely for everyone's protection."

"I was referring to when you were going to punish Sam, Tuck, and Jazz."

"Oh, that! You misunderstood me. I was going to punish them in a way a parent would," Vlad clarified. "I would have just grounded them or something like that."

"That's not what it sounded like to me."

"Jack, Maddie, we've known each other since college. Trust me when I say your son was the enemy."

With those last words, Vlad's eyes turned blood red, causing the couple to become entranced within them. They stared into his eyes with mouths agape, completely stupefied.

"Danny is, was, and will forever be the enemy," Vlad spoke.

"Danny is the enemy," the couple spoke together.

"I am the hero; I can do no wrong."

"You can do no wrong."

Vlad smirked and his eyes became their normal aqua green color; however, Jack and Maddie's eyes remained a crimson color.

"Well, I believe I visited long enough," Vlad stood up. "I'll leave you two to collect your thoughts."

The evil hybrid exited the house swiftly. After closing the front door, he stood on the stoop and adjusted his black suit then walked down the concrete steps with a sadistic smile playing on his face.


	10. The Prophecy

"Why are you guys still here?" Danny asked rudely the next morning.

"We're not going anywhere without you, Danny," his sister replied, "So until you agree to come with us, we aren't budging."

"You guys just don't get it! I do not want to go back!"

"Last night it sounded more like you were afraid to go back, not like you didn't want to," mumbled Sam.

Danny shot his Goth friend a look.

"What's the worst that could happen if you came back with us?" asked Tucker.

The halfa stared at him, practically mortified.

"The worst thing? The worst thing? I'm staying away from Amity Park so the 'worst thing' can't happen!"

"You're not gonna die, Danny," said Sam.

The ghost boy stood with a stone cold expression on his pale white face. His friends waited for yet another snotty reply, but he remained as silent as a mortuary. No one spoke, creating an awkward silence among them. The noise of Frostbite's heavy footsteps coming down the hall finally broke them of their silence.

"You're up already?" Jazz asked, surprised.

"I'm still not quite myself," admitted the yeti, "but I'm able to move about."

"Good, maybe you can talk some sense into Danny," snarled Sam.

"I'm afraid there's no reasoning with him," Frostbite shook his head.

"Geez, this is ridiculous, Danny. You _are_ coming back with us whether you like it or not."

"Sam, chill," Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder. "We can't force him to go back."

Sam raised an eyebrow as she took the Fenton Thermos from behind her back and uncapped it. Danny took a step backwards, keeping his green eyes on the ghost-capturing device.

"Sorry, Danny, but this is for your own good," the Goth pointed the thermos towards Danny.

"No!" he cried. "No!"

The quartet watched as their friend was sucked inside the Fenton Thermos. The boy squirmed and wriggled and fought with all his might to resist the thermos' strong pull, but it was in vain. He ended up inside the thermos with Sam capping him inside.

"Or…maybe we can," Tucker changed his mind.

"You guys can't do this," cried Danny's muffled voice. "Once you let me out I'll just turn around and leave again!"

"He's right," agreed Frostbite. "You cannot hold him there against his will."

"Sure we can," Sam disagreed. "We can hold him at Fenton Works."

"Forever?"

"Well…possibly…"

"He must choose to return on his own."

Sam looked up into Frostbite's eyes then down to the thermos in her hands. She shook her head and returned to her determined expression.

"We _can_ keep Danny in our world, and we're going to."

The Goth turned around and began walking towards the front of the castle.

"Children, if you're going to take him, you must take his prophecy," informed Frostbite.

"What's so important about his prophecy?" asked Tuck. "It practically has Danny riveted to the floor here."

"I am not at large to discuss your friend's prophecy; however, I will say that all his enemies are after it. Since they all believe that he and his orb are trapped forever in The Realm of Nightmares, it's probably safe, but you should take it just in case."

Tucker nodded and he and Jazz set out to retrieve the glass orb from the halfa's room.

* * *

An angry knock came from the front door. The knocking became more violent as the seconds passed. Finally the door opened to reveal four angry adults.

"Maddie Fenton, you tell me where my Samantha is!" demanded Pamela Manson.

"And Tucker too," added Maurice.

"Well hi, everybody," Maddie greeted happily. "Do come in."

"We don't have time for this," the blonde male, Jeremy Manson stepped up, not noticing the female's eyes were of a different color. "There's only one place our kids would be and that's here. We haven't seen Sam since your daughter came and brought her here for protection."

"Protection?" Protection from what?"

"Your insane son, that's what!" yelled the red-head.

"Danny? Well I don't blame Jazz for wanting to protect his old friends. After all, they would be Danny's most likely targets when he comes back. In fact, we're arming the house right now for his return."

"Wait…you're agreeing that Danny is evil?" blinked Mrs. Foley.

"Well of course. You were there. You saw what he attempted to do to Vlad. He's clearly the bad seed in our family."

The four adults on the stoop blinked.

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Maurice.

"I've never felt better. All this time just sitting around and thinking finally made me see how my ex-son is evil. And when you stop and think about it, you'll realize it too."

Maddie's crimson eyes began to glow. This entranced the other adults, turning their eyes crimson red as well. She smirked as the parents in front of her turned away to "infect" the other members of the town.

* * *

"All right, here we are," announced Tuck as he opened the door to his friend's room.

"Wow, it's pretty bare in here," remarked Jazz.

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. Nothing, I guess. But I just thought we'd see more of Danny's personality, you know?"

"Jazz, the room is empty and depressing. I'm pretty sure that's been Danny's personality since the attack two months ago."

The red-head sighed. She couldn't argue with that. Now to find the prophecy. They both scanned the room and found no trace of it. Honestly, the room was empty. How hard could it truly be to find a glass orb? After a few moments, they finally found it sitting on a shelf made of snow – the transparency of the glass had camouflaged it with the white background. Tuck picked it up.

"I just don't see how this little thing can have Danny quaking in his boots," he said.

"I don't' know," shrugged Jazz, "But we'd better head back now."

"Yeah, you're right – whoops…"

Tuck and Jazz stared in horror as the orb fell to the ground. Luckily the ground was soft enough it didn't break. At this the two sighed in relief; however, their relief soon turned to shock and confusion as the ball began to glow a robin's egg blue. They stared silently as a high-pitched, monotonous, female voice began speaking from nowhere:

_As a young half-ghost you will face a test,_

_And your greatest enemy will not rest._

_After a battle in your home town,_

_Away you will fly from everyone's frowns._

_Your greatest battle hath just begun,_

_You will have to stay, you cannot run. _

_From within will come your power,_

_It will help you in the battling hour._

_At the end of the bout we'll see who dies,_

_For one can't live if the other survives._

The orb ceased its glowing and returned to normal.

"'We'll see who dies'?" Jazz repeated.

"Oh man…that must be why he doesn't want to go back," realized Tucker.

"But it said he can't run. He has to do this. I want Danny to come home but…not at the risk of losing his life."

The teens stood in silence just staring at the prophecy. It was almost too much to take in at one time. After hearing these words, they couldn't blame Danny for being so indignant on staying in the Ghost Zone.

"We can't force Danny to go back. Not after this," Tucker looked to Jazz.

"Well….I guess we still have to get back downstairs," Jazz spoke. "They're probably wondering about us."

Tuck gulped and gingerly picked up the orb as if he expected it to attack him. Once it was securely in his hand, the two walked grimly back downstairs.

"Geez, took you guys long enough," Sam commented when she saw her friends descending the stairs.

"We…uh…got a little sidetracked," said Tuck.

"Well come on, let's go."

"Sam, wait. Maybe Danny should stay here," suggested the red-head.

Sam blinked in surprise, "What?"

"What?" Danny said from inside the thermos, equally surprised.

"Are you guys kidding?" We need Danny back home! Things are horrible without him!" exclaimed the Goth.

"Sam, we're not suggesting he stay here forever. He'll come back on his own," explained Jazz.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Sam, dragging him back forcefully won't do anything. Danny was right; he'd just turn around and leave again," explained the tech-geek.

"We can keep him at Fenton Works, Tuck!"

"How ironic. You preach that cages are wrong, but you're willing to hold Danny hostage in his own home like it's a prison?"

She blinked, speechless.

"Come on, Sam, just let him stay here awhile longer," urged Jazz.

The Goth seemed to mull over her friends' words for a few moments, then, "No. I'm not losing him again. We're all going home."

She stormed out to the Specter Speeder without so much as another word. The remaining teens exchanged grim glances, sighed, and followed their fuming friend.

The trip was very quiet – almost too quiet. Tucker navigated the controls, Jazz sat to his right in the middle, and Sam sat staring out the window. Danny hadn't even uttered anything. It was just silent. And deserted.

"Have you guys noticed the lack of ghosts here?" Tuck broke the silence.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen a single ghost since we left Frostbite," agreed Jazz.

"Why should that bother you guys?" Sam asked snottily. "You obviously don't believe things should be in their proper places."

"Sam, that is not it at all," huffed Jazz. "Danny just shouldn't come back until he's ready."

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because…we accidentally heard Danny's prophecy…" Tuck admitted.

"What?" Danny gasped.

"We didn't mean to," apologized Jazz. "It just sort of activated. We're sorry."

"I can't believe you guys!" fumed the hybrid.

"Well, it gives us better insight into why you'd rather stay here. Why didn't you just tell us in the first place?"

"Because, Jazz, it didn't concern you!"

"Didn't concern me? Danny, I'm your sister! It completely concerns me!"

"Hold on a second," Sam butted in. "What exactly is it that doesn't concern us?"

A thin silence fell over everyone. Jazz and Tuck seemed to hesitate, not really knowing if they should tell her. Unfortunately, it didn't seem right to leave her out in the cold.

"Well go on. Tell her," ordered Danny bitterly. "You two already heard. Why not let Sam hear too?"

Tuck inhaled shakily before looking at the Goth, "Danny's prophecy mentions that he has to fight, but it also says he could possibly… die."

"Die?" Sam repeated in horror.

"Yeah," the hybrid answered grimly.

The Goth closed her amethyst eyes. She bore an expression on her face showing signs of pain, fear, and guilt. She clutched the thermos tightly between her hands before finally taking off the lid and releasing her dearest friend from its confines.

"What are you doing?" Tuck blinked.

"You're letting me go?" asked Danny.

Sam nodded.

"But why?"

"If what they said about your future is true, then I don't want it to happen either. I lost you once, Danny; I really don't want it to happen again."

"Thanks, guys," The ghost smiled.

"I see the Fenton-Portal up ahead," announced Tuck sadly. "I guess we'll see you later."

"Yeah, you guys could come back and visit if you want."

"You know we will," his sister smiled.

The hybrid smiled warmly at the three teens in front of him. Then, he turned intangible and flew out into the ghost zone. The teens sighed sadly but were surprised when Danny flew ahead to the portal.

Tuck sped up, "What are you doing?"

"The portal's locked, you guys."

The three stared at the metal door and did not that it was closed tightly.

"That's odd," Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Why would Mom and Dad close the portal?"

"I don't know," spoke Danny. "But I have a bad feeling about this."


	11. The Infimap

**DGG: Oh my goodness. Could it possibly be true? Have I really FINALLY updated this story? Oh...I feel so terrible about this. Hopefully I can keep up with these updates. Honestly, there's not too much left. You'd think that would motivate me, but no...*sigh* Oh well. Here I am. Here it is. I hope you're able to enjoy it. And don't forget to review after reading. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. :)**

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"This isn't right," spoke Danny.

"I thought your parents never left the front room," Tucker commented.

"Well, they normally didn't," answered Jazz. "I guess that it's possible they decided to close off the portal since they renounced ghost hunting."

"Sure, but they paid no attention to it before, so it's not adding up."

"Danny, how are we supposed to get back?" asked Sam.

"I don't know," he shook his head.

"You guys don't think this has anything to do with Plasmius, do you?" asked the tech-geek.

"I told you there's no way it can be Plasmius!" cried Danny.

"How long are you gonna live in denial, little brother?"

"How long are you going to keep lying to get me back home?"

"We're not lying!" yelled Sam. "Plasmius wasn't destroyed! You may not like it, but it's the truth!"

Danny looked away.

"We wouldn't make something like this up," said Tuck. "Plus, your prophecy mentioned 'your greatest enemy.' I'm pretty sure that's Plasmius."

"Look, I don't have to do what a little glass ball tells me to do! And I know for a fact it's lying!"

"Who else would it be talking about?"

"Anyone else."

"Danny…" started Jazz.

"C'mon, guys, I've got to get you home."

"How do you plan on doing that?" asked the Goth.

"My mom and dad aren't the only ones with a portal."

* * *

"I told Danny that the problems from his world would seep into this one," spoke a familiar ghost with the ability to change his age.

"But nothing has happened here yet," pointed out Frostbite.

"No, but they're about to."

Clockwork drifted around the rubble that used to be The Hall of Prophecies.

"Are you sure Danny will follow through on his destiny?"

"I have foreseen that he would."

"And if he does defy his fate?"

Clockwork stopped and looked back at the large beast, "Then it will mean utter catastrophe for Amity Park. However, whether he chooses to go back home now or twenty years from now, he will go back."

"So no matter what he does he can't escape his prophecy?"

Clockwork smiled, but it soon faded as a rumble ran through the entire plain.

"What was that?" Frostbite's ear perked up.

"Massive unbalance. Pretend that the ghostly realm and human realm are two sides of a scale. To be in perfect harmony, they need to be evenly balanced; however, with most of the ghosts residing in the human realm, the scale has tipped. Without the equal balance, this world will collapse."

"How long could that take?"

"It would be awhile. But remember, if this world goes, Danny's world will follow soon after. After all, if one side of the scale is taken away, the other side can't balance, and will fall as well."

"That's what will cause Danny to return home?"

"No."

Frostbite blinked.

"Danny at this moment will be escorting his friends back to Amity Park. Once he's sees the destruction, I assure you, he won't be returning here any time soon."

* * *

The four teens flew through the Ghost Zone in the Specter Speeder in search of Vlad's old portal. The trip was silent since Danny decided to man the controls. The white-haired teen refused to speak with the others due to his stubbornness about his arch-enemy still existing. The others felt too awkward to say anything to the brooding male and so kept their attentions diverted with whatever they could.

"There it is up ahead," Danny said flatly.

"Danny, would you like to come back with us?" asked Tucker.

"You already know the answer."

"No, not to stay. I just meant that…it would be suspicious if we flew the Specter Speeder through the streets, right? You could come along and turn us invisible to sneak us back into your basement."

The hybrid looked at his friends who were all giving him cheesy smiles. The boy sighed and smiled back.

"Fine, I'll help you get back home. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stay once I'm there. Got that?"

The three nodded.

"Good. Now let's get going. It's a long way back to Amity Park from Wisconsin."

Danny flew the Speeder closer to the portal, but gasped once he was a few feet from the doorway. Not only was his parents' portal closed, but this one was as well. "What is going on?" yelled Danny in disbelief and frustration.

"Someone obviously doesn't want us to get back home," said Tuck.

"But if this portal's locked too how can we get back to Amity Park?" asked Jazz.

"I'm thinking," Danny placed a hand to his temple.

"You don't think we're stuck here, do you, guys?" asked Tuck.

"You're not stuck here; just let me think!" exclaimed the hybrid.

All three teens fell silent allowing Danny to work through any options he could think of. The hybrid didn't have long to think though as he was shaken from his thoughts by a giant rumble that shook the entire realm.

"What the heck was that?" cried Tucker.

"I have no idea," answered Danny, "but I may know who could tell us. Come on, guys, we're going back to Frostbite."

* * *

"This is fantastic. I couldn't be more pleased with how everything is working out," Plasmius smirked from his throne in the center of the town.

"And best of all there's no annoying half-ghost teenager to stop you this time," mused Skulker.

"Yes, that Realm of Nightmares certainly came in handy," Plasmius stood. "Look at it. At this very moment, every citizen in this town has been brain-washed into believing I am their savior. They're building monuments to me as we speak."

"When shall we move out to take over the rest of this pathetic planet?"

"Soon, Skulker. And not only do we have a horde of ghosts to help with the attack, but we also have a human army! They'll brainwash a few other people, who in turn will brainwash more people and so on and so forth. This planet will bow to me in no time."

Plasmius' sadistic smile was the last thing the two ghosts saw before Clockwork closed the portal.

"This situation just went from bad to worse," spoke Clockwork.

"Danny better get home soon or else it'll be too late for this world," said Frostbite.

"If I'm correct – which I am – he's run into a few minor complications and is on his way back here as we speak."

"Back here? For what?"

"Why don't you ask him? He and his friends should be arriving any moment."

Frostbite strolled down the halls of his icy castle and opened the front doors. Sure enough the Specter Speeder was just landing in the snow, and Danny was already flying towards the castle.

"Frostbite," spoke Danny sternly, "we need you help."

"Both ghost portals are sealed up tight, and you need a way back to Amity Park, correct?" asked Clockwork, coming out from behind the massive yeti.

"Clockwork? What are you doing here?" barked the hybrid.

"Are you still blaming me for that which I cannot control?"

"Danny," warned Frostbite before the boy could fight back.

"The portals being closed are why you have returned, yes?" asked Clockwork again.

"That and to find out what was up with that massive rumble," said Tuck as he and the girls joined the group of ghosts.

"The portals have been closed in order to keep you three trapped," Clockwork motioned towards Jazz, Tuck, and Sam. "He is carrying out his master plan and doesn't want any unexpected surprises."

"But what could we do?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Something about you three being the key."

The three teens exchanged confused expressions with one another.

"A key to what?" asked Jazz.

"Repressed memories," the teens exchanged glances yet again. "As for the quakes you've been experiencing, it's the signal that the world is soon ending."

"What!" gasped all four teens.

"It's like a timer. No rumbling equals no problem. But now that most of the ghosts are staying in the realm of the living this world will cave in, and if that happens, your world will be destroyed as well. The farther apart the quakes are, the more time we have. But time will soon run out."

"So we need to get the ghosts back in here somehow?" asked Tuck.

"Yes, but it's not that simple."

"I have to do it?" asked Danny.

"You will have to go back, Danny, if you expect to save your world from a grisly fate. But first you need a way back."

"Well how do we do that if both portals are locked?" asked Sam.

"The Fenton Portal as well as Vlad's portal aren't the only ways in and out of the Ghost Zone," Frostbite finally spoke. "Those are nothing but man-made portals, and although they are quite convenient for ghosts nowadays, there are several natural portals in and out of this world. Ghosts have been able to enter your world long before the concepts of those portals had even been imagined."

"So how do we find any of these natural portals?" questioned Danny.

"With this," Frostbite turned and motioned for everyone to follow him down the main hall. They passed many doors until finally they reached a massive room lined with rows of glass cases. They finally came to a stop in front of a case in the center of the room. Frostbite opened the glass case and lifted a rolled-up, purple parchment from the red velvet pillow.

"What's that?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

"This is the Infimap. It's a map of everything in the Ghost Zone. Just call out a name and the map will lead you there."

Danny took the map gingerly. His friends gathered round as he unrolled the piece of parchment. The hybrid looked up at the yeti.

"Hold on tight," informed the beast.

Danny and his friends each took hold of a piece of the map.

"Just call out where you'd like to go," smirked Clockwork.

The teens gulped nervously as Danny opened his mouth.

"A-Amity Park."

Instantly the four teens were pulled into what felt like a wormhole. They were traveling so fast they could barely make out the landmarks they were zipping past. Their voices echoed throughout the empty realm as they flew by. Eventually the four made it to a natural portal, passing through the wall with ease and landing on a grassy hill just outside the city.

"Wow," commented Tucker. "That was some ride."

"And we made it home," smiled Jazz as she looked up at the Amity Park sign.

"We may be home, but it doesn't look like it," spoke Sam.

The other three teens made their way to the very top of the hill. What they saw was anything but home sweet home.

* * *

**DGG: Please review!**


	12. The Red Huntress

**DGG: Oh my! Two posts in one day? What is that about? Actually, I'll tell you what it's about. I thought I had already uploaded the last chapter...I came to find out I had been wrong...so...I wrote this one and figured I might as well post them both. You readers get to feel so special right now. Yay.**

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Amity Park, a bustling town filled with all sorts of busy people was usually considered a good place to live; however, now it was more like a nightmare. The four teens stared down at the mass destruction of their once-beloved city. They watched as the townspeople tore down buildings – for what, they weren't sure though. There were all sorts of ghosts lined up, watching the humans from above, and the whole town seemed to have a dark and gloomy feeling to it. The four stood in silence trying to comprehend what exactly was happening.

"Danny," spoke Tuck, "do you believe us now?"

"This…this doesn't mean Plasmius is behind it," croaked Danny, not entirely believing his own words. "It…it could be someone else."

As if to prove him wrong, the familiar snide cackle of one Vlad Plasmius echoed throughout the area. Upon hearing his enemy's voice, the young halfa's heart sank.

"How about now? Do you believe us now?"

"So…Plasmius really is back…" Danny looked down at the grass.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you all along, little brother," Jazz put a hand on his shoulder.

"So what should we do now?" asked Sam.

Danny remained silent, his eyes not moving from the ground beneath him.

"Danny, what should we do?" his sister repeated, but Danny still wasn't paying attention.

All of the halfa's thoughts were preoccupied by his prophecy. It was coming true. It was really coming true. Plasmius was back, and Danny knew he had to fight. It was just like Frostbite and Clockwork said. But of course it was. Even Danny, himself, had known he would always return, even if he didn't want to admit it. And now here he was, standing at the brink of his town's destruction. He knew he couldn't help it. He knew what he had to do. Even if he had never even heard his prophecy before, he knew he would have had to come back here and fight for his home once again. It was all too clear in his mind. He had to go back home…and face Plasmius once and for all.

"Danny?" Jazz prodded, worry seeping into her voice.

Finally Danny looked up and looked to his friends.

"You want to know what we're going to do? We need to make a plan."

"Awesome!" exclaimed Tucker with a smile. "Now that's the Danny I remember! So what are we gonna do, man?"

"_We're_ not going to do anything for right now."

"Huh?" the three humans gawked.

"I'm going down there."

"That's crazy!" cried Sam. "You can't go down there alone!"

"Sam's right," agreed the red-head. "We have no idea what's going on down there. It could be one giant trap."

"But I'd rather put myself in danger than all of you. I'll be fine. I have ghost powers, remember? I'll be able to fight my way through anything they throw at me. You guys would be sitting ducks. It would be better to scout things out unseen, wouldn't it?"

The three teens exchanged skeptical glances with one another.

"But, Danny, what about your prophecy?" asked Tucker. "Plasmius is down there. 'One can't live if the other survives,' remember?"

"I do remember. But like I said. I'm just going to scope things out. I'll be invisible the entire time. No one's going to see me. Okay? So just stay here until I get back."

"Fine," the Goth folded her arms. "But if you're not back within an hour just know that we will go down there after you, got it?"

"No," snapped Danny. "I…I don't want you guys getting hurt. I'll be back, I promise. Just stay up here and stay hidden."

"Danny, we're all in this together. We all used to fight ghosts by your side," said Jazz.

"I know that. But for right now I'm going down there alone. Got it?"

"Got it," Tuck answered.

"I'll be back soon."

The teens watched as Danny flew off towards the town. They didn't know what was going to happen, but all three of them felt a foreboding feeling in the pits of their stomachs.

* * *

The white-haired teen flew toward what was once his home town. As he grew steadily closer he finally turned himself invisible. One reason was because he wasn't completely sure how the town would take his sudden reappearance, but the main reason was that he didn't want Plasmius to know he was here just yet. Especially since Plasmius believed Danny was still trapped in the Realm of Nightmares. The Realm of Nightmares. Now there was an experience the halfa wished he could forget. He shuddered as the memory of everyone turning on him resurfaced in his mind. He didn't know what exactly would have happened to him had his friends not rescued him, but he gulped down the large lump that was forming within his throat and shook his head clear of the memory. He needed to focus on the task at hand.

Danny flew down the streets of Amity Park looking left and right at the destruction. It looked as though the entire town were out working in the streets. They appeared to be taking apart the current buildings and replacing them with new ones. He wasn't sure what these new buildings were for; however, he did notice that they seemed a little more high-tech. Giant state-of-the-art computers, security cameras, and weapons were being brought in. It looked as though Amity Park was arming itself against an invasion of some kind.

The boy hovered above the town silently, deciding not to preoccupy himself with all the construction. As he continued to look around he began to realize that something wasn't right. There was something eerie about what was going on here, but the ghost boy couldn't quite place a finger on it. Suddenly he realized it was quiet. No one was speaking. There was no complaining, no moaning. Everyone just worked diligently on the jobs at hand.

_That's strange,_ thought Danny. _It's like I stumbled into one of those old silent movies or something._

Finally, the halfa started moving again, looking down at the citizens in the streets. He was making sure everyone was accounted for; however, as he flew down more and more streets he began wondering where exactly his family was. So far he hadn't stumbled upon his parents anywhere. A thousand thoughts rushed through the ghost-boy's mind. Were they all right? Did Vlad lock them up? Did he…kill them? As the thoughts in his mind kept growing worse and worse, he became more and more determined to find his parents. As his anxiety grew, he began to speed faster and faster through the streets of Amity Park, racing to get to his home. Little did he know, that someone was watching him.

"The ghost boy?" Skulker spoke to himself in surprise. The mechanical ghost had spotted Danny through a pair of his special binoculars, so even though he was invisible, Skulker was able see him. "He's…alive? And he's here?"

The hunter quickly flew from his post in the skies and flew towards the center of town to tell Plasmius his news.

"Sir," Skulker landed on the street before his throne.

"Why are you here, Skulker? I gave you specific instructions to not leave your post for any reason."

"But, Sir, this is important. I felt you needed to hear it in person."

"Fine. It had better be important. What is it?"

"I just saw the ghost-boy. He's here."

"What?" Plasmius sat up straight. "You're sure?"

"Positive. And by the looks of it, he was headed toward Fenton Works."

"To find his family, no doubt," Plasmius sat back. "Somehow I figured I would see him here again."

"But the last we heard he was trapped in the Realm of Nightmares."

"Yes, or so we thought. But it doesn't matter. With what I have planned, he won't be staying here long."

"What do you have in mind?" Skulker queried.

"I think he needs to be welcomed back home. And who better to welcome him than the Red Huntress?"

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"Almost there. Almost there," Danny muttered to himself. He could see his childhood home looming in the distance and from what he could tell it was completely intact. "Almost…AHH!"

Danny was completely caught off guard by a sudden blast to his side. The attack sent him spiraling down into the asphalt, the impact causing him to turn visible once again. The ghost rolled over with a groan onto his back, holding his right side. It felt like a blast from an ecto-gun, but who would have known he was there? He was invisible.

"So, you've returned?"

Danny held up his head towards the female voice he heard. Suddenly, his throbbing side was the least of his worries. The person standing in front of him was holding a hand-held ecto-gun and wearing a red jumpsuit with black boots and black gloves, and no visible skin. The sight of her made him feel as though all the wind had been knocked out of him.

"What's the matter? You look like you've just seen a ghost," she taunted.

It was just like when he was suspended in that nightmare. One of the popular girls from his class had put on that same outfit. No. It couldn't be. His nightmare couldn't really be coming true!

"Val…Valerie?" Danny choked out.

The girl lowered her hood to reveal her dark skin and her wavy black hair.

"That's right. Or at least that's who I used to be," she began. "After you left I was appointed as the town's official watch-out for you. And for any other evil ghost. I'm now known as the Red Huntress."

"I'm not evil!" Danny argued. "And…how did you know I was here anyway?"

"I have sensor built into my hood that senses any ectoplasmic energy, enabling me to see ghosts whether they're visible or not."

"So…you're a full-fledged ghost hunter now?"

"Did the suit, the weapons, and the explanation not clue you in to that fact?" she spat venomously.

"No, I got it. It's just that you said you were on the lookout for evil ghosts. If you were any kind of hunter, then you should have realized that there's already an entire horde of evil ghosts here!"

"Like who? Plasmius? Don't make me laugh. He's not evil."

"Have you not seen the town? Do you think this is normal? It's in ruins!"

"No. It's not in ruins. Plasmius is helping us to fix Amity Park. We're making it stronger and less vulnerable to ghost invasions. Obviously we're not finished yet or else you wouldn't have even made it inside without being vaporized. So now, I'll just have to vaporize you right here, so you don't cause any trouble."

"Valerie, you don't really think I'm the enemy, do you? I saved all of you from Plasmius! He tried to kill me! I know I was about to attack Vlad while in his human form, but I was angry! You know that feeling, don't you? And we've gone to school together since kindergarten. You know I'm not evil!"

The African American smirked.

"Nice argument. But trust me, I know what I saw. And I know that a so-called 'nice' ghost probably wouldn't have tried to attack a defenseless man."

"But he wasn't defenseless! He still has ghost powers! He was faking it! He framed me!"

"Enough! I'm going to take care of you once and for all, Danny. Get ready!"

The angry girl pulled her hood back over her head and took out her handheld ecto-gun, aimed it right for the boy in front of her, and fired. Thinking quickly, he used his powers to materialize a green shield in front of him. However, the attack bounced off and went soaring right back towards the ghost hunter.

"Valerie! Look out!" cried Danny.

The girl wasted no time. She quickly jumped up into the air, dodging the attack, did a somersault, and landed on her feet back on the pavement. The ghost-boy blinked in surprise, amazed at what he'd just seen.

"Whoa," was the only thing that came from his lips.

"Whoa is right, Ghost. And you'd better prepare yourself because this time I won't miss you!"

Danny raised an eyebrow as she took out something that looked like a small wristwatch.

"What's that supposed to be?" he laughed.

"It's an inhibitor. And once it latches onto either your ankle or your wrist, you'll be completely powerless!"

The ghost hunter threw the small device towards her prey. Panicked, Danny quickly materialized a ghostly, green orb in the palm of his hand and threw it at the oncoming inhibitor, hitting it dead on and breaking it into a dozen tiny pieces.

"Ha!" cried Danny triumphantly. "Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?"

"Actually," the ghost hunter pulled out an entire case of the tiny devices, "I thought of exactly that."

The halfa gasped as the girl jumped on her hover board and started racing towards him. Quickly, the white-haired teen jumped into the air and began flying away from his tormentor.

"There's nowhere to go, Phantom! Just give up now and save yourself an embarrassing defeat!"

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**DGG: Like I said before. I will try my best to update this as soon as I can. I have a million ideas running through my mind about a million different things...and I just need to learn how to manage my time better. **

**Remember to review!**


	13. Nightmare Relived

**DGG: Ah. It feels slightly lovely to be writing for this story again. A piece of this chapter bugs me...when Danny's in the lab it seems unrealistic to me...then again it's a story about a kid who gains random ghost powers from a portal in his parents' basement, so...perhaps it will just fit right in then. Anyways enjoy and please review!**

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The three teens waited outside the town beside the welcome sign for Amity Park just where Danny had left them. Tucker and Jazz sat with their backs up against the large, wooden sign and talked amongst themselves as they awaited Danny's return. Sam on the other hand sat near the edge of the sign in complete silence. She kept staring around the corner at the town, obviously thinking about her childhood friend.

"Sam," Tucker called.

No response.

"Sam, you're doing it again."

The raven-haired girl shook her head as she turned back to face her friends.

"Doing what?" she asked.

"You're staring out there again," answered Jazz.

"I can't help it! Danny shouldn't have gone down there alone."

"We know how you feel, but Danny will be all right," smiled the tech-geek. "He does have ghost powers, after all. And he knows what to do with them. He'll definitely be able to handle any trouble that comes his way. Then again, he's invisible. So no one's going to see him. Don't worry so much, Sam."

"Just because he's invisible it doesn't mean he's safe, Tucker!"

"Sam, we don't like him going down there any more than you do," interjected Jazz. "We just have to have a little faith for now."

The Goth sighed as she turned her head back towards the city.

"I don't know, guys. I have a really uneasy feeling. Like he's in trouble or something."

Tuck and Jazz exchanged worried glances with one another. They felt the exact same way.

* * *

"Come back here and fight like a man, Phantom!" cried Valerie as she zoomed after Danny on her hover board.

"I don't want to fight, Valerie! I don't want to hurt you!" he yelled back, dodging another blast from her ecto-gun.

"Fine!" she yelled in frustration. "Don't fight. I'll bring you back to Fenton Works whether you fight nobly or not!"

"Fenton Works?" Danny repeated aloud. "You're going to capture me just to take me back home?"

"It's not your home anymore, Ghost!" Valerie threw an inhibitor, which Danny easily dodged.

"I was going in there in the first place!"

"I know. But you have your powers. I couldn't let you just barge inside able to attack! The only way you're getting inside is beaten and powerless!"

This wasn't going at all the way Danny had hoped it would. He closed his eyes, upset at what he was thinking about doing.

"I really hate to do this," Danny spoke.

"Do what?" spat the ghost hunter.

In response, the halfa turned around and pointed his right index finger at the box in the girl's hand, sending a tiny ray her way. At first she dodged the attack, but another one hit her off guard in the hand, causing her to yelp and toss the box into the air.

"NO!" the female cried, stopping and watching as all the inhibitors went plummeting towards the streets below. "You…you attacked me," she said in surprise, holding her left hand.

"I didn't attack you. I was trying to protect myself! Valerie, you have to listen to me! I'm not a bad person nor am I a bad ghost!"

"Save it! I'm not going to suddenly have a change of heart for you! Especially after the stunt you just pulled."

"I didn't pull any stunt!"

"Your parents wanted me to bring you back alive when you returned, but I'm going to bring you back dead or alive. The difference will be how well you cooperate with me."

"My parents? Are they all right? Did Vlad…"

"Vlad has nothing to do with this, Phantom," Valerie cut him off.

"My parents want me back?"

"Do they want you back? No. Do they expect you to back? Yes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means they're the ones who appointed me to be the town's watch out! They appointed me, and Vlad supplied me with the suit and the weapons."

Hearing these words made Danny's face fall. His parents…his parents recruited her? But that didn't make any sense! He felt his gut tighten as the memories from being trapped within the Realm of Nightmares surfaced in his mind. His parents had turned on him. The entire town had turned on him. His parents wanted him dead in that nightmare and now it seemed as if it was actually coming true! Danny closed his eyes and placed his gloved hands on top of his head.

"This can't be happening," he spoke aloud. "This can't be happening."

Valerie wasted no time. While her prey was clearly distressed about the situation at hand she pulled out one last inhibitor. She tossed the small contraption towards Danny and watched as it latched on around his ankle. Surprise overtook the boy as he quickly looked down at his ankle and then looked up at the ghost hunter.

"I had one more up my sleeve," she spoke smugly.

The small device then launched out a line resembling a leash towards Valerie, who took hold of the handle with her right hand. Once she had a firm grasp she used her thumb to click on a tiny button on the end of the handle, which activated the machine. Danny felt the effects quickly enough. He screamed out as it felt like electricity surged throughout his entire body. After a few seconds he could feel his powers slipping out of his grasp. He fought against it with all his might, but it was just no use. Unable to keep a hold on his ghostly powers, he unwillingly transformed back into regular old Danny Fenton. Without any powers, the raven-haired teen began plummeting towards the ground; however, he was jolted to a halt by the leash on the inhibitor.

"Time to take you back to the lab," spoke Valerie.

Using her hover board, she turned around and started heading back towards Fenton Works, dragging a screaming Danny behind her through the air. Within a few minutes they had arrived back at Danny's childhood home. The ghost hunter took her hover board down towards the sidewalk, reeling Danny up towards her so that he didn't hit the pavement below. Once she was close enough to the ground she hopped off her board and held it upright and allowed the teenage boy to stand on his own two feet.

"So now what?" he asked.

"Now I take you inside," she answered.

"How do you know I'll go in there without a fight?"

"Trust me," the girl backhanded him on the forehead, causing him to stumble backwards, and Valerie moved her hover board so that it was standing vertically behind the male. When he backed into it, she tied the leash around him and the board, securing him in place. "You'll be going in without a fight."

She then laid Danny backwards so that now he was floating horizontally above the ground, stood behind his head, and began pushing the hover board up the steps and inside the house. Danny closed his eyes, expecting a full-on attack once he was inside, but nothing of the sort happened. He slowly opened his blue eyes to see that his home looked just the way it always had. All the furniture was in the same spots. A couple of mugs sat out on the end tables, and a mess of magazines was strewn around on the coffee table. The only things missing from the scene were his parents. However, judging by where Valerie was directing him, he had a fairly good idea of where they were: the basement, otherwise known as the lab.

And he was correct. The ghost hunter took him through the kitchen, down the basement steps, and into the lab where his parents and a few other unexpected people were working diligently on some new ghostly technology. Danny was a bit confused to see both of his best friends' parents working alongside his, but seeing them working on new ghost-hunting equipment made his stomach put a bad taste in his mouth.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, I brought you something," Valerie lowered her hood.

The two jump-suit clad parents looked up from their work and gasped.

"Danny?" Maddie spoke breathlessly.

"You found him?" asked Jack.

"I found him flying around the town. He was probably looking for Vlad to finish him off," spoke Valerie.

"What?" blinked Danny. "That's not true! I was trying to find you guys to make sure you were all right!"

The next thing Danny knew he was up vertically again and all six adults in the basement were standing right in front of him.

"All right, tell us the truth," barked the red-headed Pamela Manson. "What have you done with Samantha?"

"And Tucker," chimed in Mr. Foley.

"Your sister is missing too," snapped Maddie.

Danny didn't know what to say. Obviously they thought he kidnapped them or worse. But something seemed off with the whole situation. His parents' faces were obscured by the hoods of their jumpsuits, which sported eye goggles; however, the other two couples' eyes looked strange. He stared at them for awhile, noting that they were very different. They were an eerie, inhuman shade of red. Danny blinked and looked at Valerie whose eyes looked the exact same way. Thoughts began reeling in his mind. Red eyes? What was going on here? All he could guess was that these red eyes must be the reason why they were treating him this way – the way they had been treating him in his nightmares. The uneasy feeling returned to his stomach as he kept running scenarios in his mind.

"He's not talking. He's not talking! That means what Vlad said was true!" cried the rich female, looking for solace on the shoulder of her blonde husband.

Danny blinked in both confusion and surprise at her outburst.

"Wait, you told us that Jazz came and got them," pointed out Maddie.

"So he abducted them on the way back home!" exclaimed Jeremy Manson while patting his wife on the back.

"Or maybe he'd already overshadowed Jazz, tricking you into letting him have your kids!" cried Jack.

"What! That's crazy!" Danny laughed nervously. "This is the first time of been back here in months!"

"No. No, it would make perfect sense," spoke up Mrs. Foley. "What better way to trick them into his clutches than by posing as someone they trust?"

"You can't be serious," Danny argued.

"Tell us where they are," ordered his mother.

"I…I don't know," he lied believing it better that they didn't know where their children were. "They…they escaped and I haven't seen them since."

"So what?" asked Valerie. "You thought you'd come looking for them here?"

"Yeah. But I guess they're not here. They know all my secrets and all my weaknesses. I guess they've got the upper hand against me. Hey! I have an idea. How about we let me go and I'll leave here and never come back!"

"Nice try," seethed Pamela through clenched teeth, clearly over her crying spell. "But we're not going to untie you until you are good and dissected."

Danny's eyes widened.

"D-dissected? You're going to dissect me?"

"Well, of course," Jeremy smiled deviously.

"We have to figure out what turned you part monster in the first place," said his mother in an eerily cheery voice.

"Monster? I'm not a monster, Mom! I'm your son! You know me! Besides, you don't need to dissect me to figure it out! I can tell you exactly how I became half ghost!"

"That's enough out of you," barked Jack. "Time to break out the Fenton-duct tape."

The orange-clad man pulled out a roll of silver duct tape with a picture of his face on it, ripped off a piece, and placed it over his son's mouth.

"All right," Jack smiled at his comrades. "What should we use to cut him open?"

"Let's use something really painful," suggested Pamela.

"All the instruments are over here," Maddie pointed to the other side of the lab and the adults all flocked towards them like a pack of lionesses on an injured gazelle.

Valerie on the other hand stayed right by his side. How was he going to get out of this mess? If he didn't hurry up and think of a plan soon then his friends would come searching for him only to find a dissected mess! The halfa shuddered slightly at the thought. He realized that the adults – as well as probably everyone else in the town – weren't in their right states of mind. But clearly he had no idea how to snap them out of it. He felt like a helpless victim in a horror movie. If only he could get the inhibitor off! Wait a minute? Wasn't he tied to a hover board? He looked down to see the handle of the inhibitor tied off fairly close to his right hand. If he could just reach the button on the end, then maybe he could escape!

The fourteen-year-old looked back to his left at his guardian. She was holding on to her hover board with one hand while watching the adults on the other end of the lab. Perfect. The boy began moving his right shoulder up and down in an attempt to loosen the bond all while trying to move his hand in order to reach the handle.

"Don't even bother," Valerie suddenly spoke, not even looking at him. "That line is coated in the same ecto-plamic resin the ghost fisher is coated in, so ghosts can't escape from it."

Danny stopped moving, realization striking him. It was made out of the same material as the Fenton ghost fisher, huh? The raven-haired boy smirked inwardly to himself as he began moving all over to loosen his ties. The ghost hunter sighed as she listened to his attempts to escape. After a few moments, the six adults returned with the tools needed to dissect the boy.

"He thinks he can escape," mused Jack. "Let me just tell you that that line will subdue any and all ghosts, Danny."

"Mhm," Danny nodded in agreement.

"Well come one, everybody! Let's start slicing and dicing!" Jack held out a scalpel with the word "Fenton" printed on the side.

Without wasting a beat, Danny used his leg to push off the counter he was hovering beside, knocking into Valerie and landing right on top of her.

"He's attacking!" pointed Mr. Foley.

The impact had been just what he needed. He found that it was now loose enough for him to slip out of.

"This is impossible! Ghosts can't escape from that line!" exclaimed Jack.

Danny ripped the tape from his mouth, "You're right, Dad. It does restrain any and all ghosts. Too bad I'm not a ghost at the moment."

Everyone in the room exchanged dumbfounded expressions with one another, clearly not having anticipated this little twist. While they were all in a stupor Danny was able to stand up and push the button on the inhibitor's handle, releasing his ankle from its clutches.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Maddie, thinking fast as she grabbed hold of her son's wrist.

"Sorry Mom, I'd love to stay and chat, but I think it's time I took my leave."

The boy transformed back into a ghost, turned intangible, slipped through his mother's clutches, and flew out through the ceiling.

"Stop him!" cried Maddie. "Valerie, get up and bring him back here!"

The girl stood up shakily, still a little dazed from what had just happened, "I'm on it, Mrs. Fenton!"

The fourteen-year-old female pulled her hood back on and jumped onto her hover board. After that she flew up the stairs, through the house, and back outside where she instantly spotted Danny flying towards the edge of the city.

"Oh no you don't, Phantom!" she yelled, speeding after him.

The ghost looked behind him to see her steadily catching up to him.

"You're going straight back to the lab!" Valerie pulled her ecto-gun back out and began firing like crazy.

The white-haired teen gasped as he began dodging all the shots. However, he couldn't dodge them forever. She fired off so many in so many different directions that he couldn't help but get hit by a few. Eventually it was just too much and she started hitting him with every shot.

"Ha! You're mine now, Ghost!"

The boy kept flying despite all the hits he was taking. For some reason or another he felt he just had to make it back to his friends. He wasn't sure why and he wasn't sure what they could do, but he had to make it back to them. He could see the back of the "Welcome to Amity Park!" sign just ahead. He was so close to it. He tried to fly faster, but Valerie's attacks just kept coming. Eventually it was too much for the boy and with one final blast he finally went careening towards the ground.

"What's all that noise?" asked Tucker, sitting up.

"Oh no," groaned Sam. "I knew it was a bad idea for Danny to go down there!"

The Goth instantly jumped to her feet and began running out from behind the sign, but before she could even get anywhere Danny crash landed into the ground right before her feet.

"Danny!" she cried, kneeling down to him. Tuck and Jazz rushed over as well.

"Danny, speak to us!" cried Jazz.

The ghost pointed up into the sky.

"V…Valerie Gray," he managed to whisper before passing out and transforming back into a human.

"Valerie Gray?" repeated Tucker. "That popular girl from school? What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Sam, Jazz, Tucker? You're alive?"

The three teens turned around to see a person clad in red standing on the ground just a few feet away from them.

Tuck looked from his fallen friend to the person before them, connecting the dots.

"Valerie?"

"How is this possible?" Valerie lowered her hood. "I…I don't understand. Danny kidnapped you…that means you should be dead…"

"Danny didn't kidnap us!" exclaimed Sam. "We went off to go find him!"

"He…but then…Vlad was wrong…" Valerie fell to her knees.

"Duh. He's the bad guy," spoke the Goth.

"I…this…you…him…" Valerie babbled in a sort of trance.

"Valerie, Danny's not the enemy!" cried Jazz. "You've got it all wrong!"

The African American girl looked at each of the teens faces before putting a hand to her temple.

"Are you okay?" asked Tuck, noting the girl's condition.

She looked back up at the teens, still holding her head. Everything in her mind was whirring around like a tornado. She couldn't understand it. She cried out, holding her head as though she had just gotten a splitting headache. Upon opening her eyes again, the red tint left them, returning to their natural green color. Suddenly, she felt dizzy, and without any warning she collapsed unconscious to the ground. The three teens exchanged confused glances with one another. What was going on here?


	14. The Key

**DGG: Here's the next chapter, guys. I wanted to update before I go on my trip tomorrow! Woo! So I hope this tides you all over until I get back. Enjoy and review!**

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A few hours past before either of the two unconscious teens began to stir. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz had moved both teens so they were both lying a few feet away from one another behind the Amity Park sign. After that, the trio just waited. Eventually Danny's blue eyes fluttered open and he groaned as he began to come back into reality.

"Danny!" the three cried in relief.

"Are you all right?" asked his sister.

"Yeah," Danny rubbed his head. "I think so. What happened?"

"Valerie was chasing you and you took a crash landing," explained Tuck.

"Valerie?" the boy instantly felt alert. "Where is she?"

Sam pointed and Danny turned his head to his right to see that Valerie was still lying on the ground.

"What happened to her?"

"We're not really sure. She just saw us, freaked out, then passed out," said Sam. "It was really odd."

The fourteen year old processed the situation for a moment before continuing.

"Is she okay?"

"Well, she's still breathing," Sam shrugged.

The raven-haired boy shot her look.

"Hey, excuse me if I'm not too forthcoming to someone who was trying to attack you."

"So what happened while you were down there, man?" the tech-geek spoke up.

"You should have seen it. It's like everyone's in some weird trance or something. They're all just working silently with a bunch of ghosts keeping watch over them."

"Did you find our parents?" asked Jazz.

"Yeah. I found all our parents. They weren't too welcoming."

"No way!" exclaimed Tuck in disbelief.

"See, I was flying towards home to see if they were there when Valerie attacked me out of nowhere. She explained that she was a ghost hunter appointed by my parents and her mission was to bring me back to the lab because all our parents wanted to dissect me."

"Yikes," interrupted Tuck.

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "But they all think I kidnapped and killed the three of you."

"Well, that would explain why Valerie was so surprised to see us," Jazz planted a hand on her chin.

"I don't know, but I get the feeling that everyone _is_ under some weird trance. The whole town has this creepy horror movie vibe to it."

"Well, maybe when Valerie wakes up we'll be able to force some info out of her," suggested Tucker.

"If she doesn't just get up and fly away first," pointed out Sam. "Or just get up and start attacking Danny."

"So we can restrain her with something," proposed Jazz. "There has to be something here we can use."

"Maybe," Danny transformed back into a white-haired ghost, "I can restrain her."

The halfa used his powers to create an ectoplasmic-like rope and tied it around the unconscious teen's torso, wrists, and ankles, making sure she couldn't move when she woke up.

"Good thinking," smiled Tuck. "But how are we going to get her to talk though? I highly doubt she'll be too willing."

"We'll think of something," said Danny.

For the next half hour the four teens just sat and waited. They watched the unconscious ghost hunter intently as though they expected her to just disappear any second. Finally, the female began to stir. As she slowly came to, she noticed that she couldn't move. Her eyes shot wide open as she realized that she was completely bound.

"Hey! What is this? What's going on?" she struggled frantically, clearly confused.

"We were hoping that's what you could tell us."

Valerie froze at the sound of Tucker's voice. She stopped moving and looked to her left.

"What is this? Why am I tied up?" she demanded.

"Sorry," apologized Danny. "We thought we might need to."

"Danny?" she spoke in shock. "Wait…you're back?"

The four teens exchanged glances with one another.

"You should know. You were the one attacking him!" shouted Sam.

"I was?"

"Yeah," said Tuck. "Don't you remember?"

The African American female looked down at her attire with a look of contemplation on her face. She looked back up and looked at the ditch Danny caused when he plowed into the ground earlier. Suddenly it looked like a light bulb went off in the girl's mind.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried while looking back at her fellow classmates. "I…I do remember. It's strange because I remember doing it, but it was like I wasn't doing it. Like I wasn't in control or something!"

"Not in control? What do you mean?" asked Jazz.

"I don't know. I can't really explain it. All I know is that it kinda feels like the past few days have been a dream or something."

"Valerie, what's been going on in Amity Park?" asked Danny in all seriousness.

"I don't know. I know that Vlad came back. He's sitting in the center of town right now actually. I also remember all your parents walking through town. I remember something not being right about them, especially your parents, Danny. Namely your mom. She seemed strangely upbeat and happy. And there was something wrong with…"

"Her eyes?" finished Danny.

"Yeah. And anyone that your any of your parents talked to suddenly became like them. It was sort of like they were turned into mindless zombies. My dad turned me. After that, I felt like I wasn't in control of my body. It was like I was doing somebody else's bidding."

"Probably Vlad's," suggested Jazz.

"Yeah. Vlad had all of us believing that you killed Sam, Jazz, and Tucker. Everyone's working to build up the defenses of the city as we speak."

"Do you know what Vlad's planning on doing?" asked Sam.

"He wants to take over the rest of the planet, but for now he was just preparing for your return, Danny."

"He was expecting me back?" Danny blinked.

"Apparently. Could you guys let me out of these?" asked Valerie, motioning towards her restraints.

"Oh, sorry. Sure," Danny moved towards her.

"Well, wait a minute. How do we know we can trust her?" asked the Goth.

"Do I look like I'm going to hurt you?" asked the popular girl.

Danny kneeled down beside her and looked at the girl's eyes. They didn't look like Tucker's and Sam's parents' eyes. And she was surprisingly non-hostile. He figured with the temper she'd had back in Amity Park that if she still felt the same way, she would have woken up and struggled profusely, yelling death threats the entire time. Danny sighed and released her from her ghostly hold.

"Thanks," she smiled.

Tucker, Sam, and Jazz looked worried.

"Don't worry, Guys," spoke Danny. "We can trust her now."

"You probably could have just trusted me all along if it weren't for Vlad showing back up and corrupting the town!"

"So…you never thought I was evil?" blinked Danny in surprise. "Or at least a menace?"

Valerie shook her head.

"No. I mean I don't think anyone did. That big fight you had with Vlad the first time was just really intense and no one really knew how to react. But I guess we forced you into exile. And you have to believe me when I tell you that I'm sorry for it."

"Thanks," the halfa gave her a small smile.

"Well, that's all well and good, but why is it that the spell over her was broken when she got out here? Does the spell not work outside of Amity Park or something?" the tech-geek wondered aloud.

"No, it works outside the city. I remember patrolling around the surrounding areas."

"So what did break her spell?" mused Jazz.

All five teens began to ponder that very question. But while they were all equally lost in thought, Danny instantly recalled something. While rushing to get out of the city with Valerie tailing him he remembered wanting to get to his friends as quickly as possible. He couldn't recall why at the time. But he believed that the answer to their question lied within that memory. The white-haired teen closed his eyes and thought as hard as he could. Suddenly Clockwork's words rang clear in his mind.

_"The portals have been closed in order to keep you three trapped… Something about you three being the key…to repressed memories."_

"Guys, do you remember what Clockwork said before we left?" Danny piped up. Everyone stared at him. "He said that you guys were the key to repressed memories. Think about it. Valerie went back to normal after seeing you."

"Hey, yeah!" smiled Tucker in excitement. "I forgot about that. But why would Plasmius bother making us the key?"

"Probably because he hypnotized the town into believing you were all dead. That 'fact' is what's fueling everyone's determination and rage to ghost-proof the town against Danny," said Valerie. "I mean, seeing you alive completely contradicts with what Vlad told us. So it would make sense that it would break the spell."

"Great! So all we have to do is show ourselves to the entire town!" smiled Tucker.

"By doing what?" snapped Sam. "By just walking down the streets?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Tuck, there are ghosts down there too! Don't you think they might intervene in that plan?"

"She has a point," agreed Jazz.

"What we need is to make a plan. We have to defeat Plasmius and get the town back to normal," said Danny. "Valerie, now that you're back to normal, are you still able to use your ghost-hunting equipment?"

"Sure. The training I went through was real."

"Good. Because I could use your help if you're willing."

"Count me in," she smiled.

"Good. Because tomorrow is when we attack."


	15. Deception

**DGG: I didn't forget about this story!...Again. I was simply consumed with school as well as with some writer's block. And procrastination. I'm very sorry. But now I'm on break until January, so hopefully I can work more on this story! AHH! So...here's the next chapter. Hopefully I won't be so long with the next one. Please enjoy.**

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"You mean to say that you had him in your clutches, yet you let him escape?" roared Plasmius. The evil ghost-hybrid was currently standing in the basement lab of the Fenton household, receiving the bad news of Danny's escape. "I give you one simple task and you somehow manage to screw that up! I should have known it was a bad idea when I decided to put Jack Fenton in charge!"

"It wasn't my fault!" cried the large, orange-clad male.

"Silence! Where is the Red Huntress?"

"I sent her off to go retrieve Danny," answered Maddie. "She hasn't returned yet."

Plasmius remained silent for a moment, looking as though he were mulling over the red-head's words.

"So she hasn't returned yet?" he repeated. "Well let's hope that the worst hasn't befallen her."

"You don't think!" gasped Pamela Manson.

"Oh, but I do think," Plasmius smirked. "Danny Phantom is a menace. He's killed once before. Well, three times before if you count each of your children's deaths separately."

These words caused each of the parents to bow their heads.

"However, there is a possibility that she is still alive. I have already taken the liberty of sending out a search party to find her along with young Daniel."

"And what happens once they've been found?" asked Mrs. Foley.

"Trust me. This time Danny won't be able to escape our clutches. And once we have him back, we'll bring him to the center of the town where he will be publicly executed in front of every citizen in Amity Park."

* * *

"Have you spotted the ghost-child yet?" Skulker spoke into his wrist communicator.

"No," answered the voice of the teen-rocker Ember. "I haven't seen any sign of him or the Red Huntress."

"Well, keep searching! You know Plasmius wants Danny back, and we can't come back empty handed!"

* * *

"Okay," whispered Danny. "Are you guys ready?"

"Ready," smiled Tucker.

"You all remember what to do, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Let's do this."

* * *

"It's been nearly twenty minutes," Skulker spoke angrily into his communicator again. "Has anyone spotted the boy?"

"I haven't even found a trace of him," Technus replied. "It's like he and the Red Huntress have just vanished into thin air."

"Well, search harder! We can't afford…"

"AHHHH!"

Skulker was interrupted by the familiar sound of Danny's scream. The ghost-hunter looked up just in time to see the boy whizzing past his head and go sailing into a nearby tree. The metallic ghost smirked as he lifted his wrist back up to his mouth.

"I just found him," Skulker flew towards the ghost hybrid. "Well, well. What do we have here?"

"Out of the way, Skulker," snapped a female voice from behind him. "I was ordered to bring him back to the city, and that's just what I'm going to do."

He turned around.

"Red Huntress," Skulker spoke, "you're alive."

"Of course I'm alive. You think that _he_ could get the best of me?" the hooded girl motioned towards the boy who was just starting to gather his wits.

"You've both been missing since yesterday. The boss only assumed…"

"Yeah? Well you know what they say about assuming," the female suddenly pointed an ecto-gun at her prey. "Stay right there, ghost! Make one move and you'll be crawling out of this town in a million tiny pieces!"

The white-haired teen stood stark still, keeping his green eyes locked on the weapon in his former classmate's hands.

"Plasmius has ordered that we capture him and bring him back to the center of town. He said that an execution is in order."

Valerie gasped, her hand faltering a bit.

"What's the matter?" Skulker raised an eyebrow. "Does that plan surprise you?"

"Um…n-no," the girl quickly gathered her wits back together. "Of course not. I just didn't know this would happen so quickly."

"Well come on. Plasmius expects him back."

Valerie turned her attention back toward Danny.

"Are you going to come quietly, ghost? Or do I have to bring you back into town by force?"

The young hybrid looked from the female in front of him to the mechanical ghost then back and held his hands out straight in front of him.

"Everyone's already turned against me. Including my own family. So I guess I have nothing left to live for. So go ahead and take me in."

The mechanical ghost eyed the two teens suspiciously as Danny stood calmly while the Red Huntress placed him in a pair of special handcuffs – handcuffs that he wouldn't be able to phase out of. Something seemed very odd about this situation. He narrowed his gaze on the two teens as the female turned back around holding a leash connected to the cuffs.

"What are you staring at? We have to get back into town!" snapped the girl.

Skulker blinked in mild surprise then replaced his surprised countenance with one of anger.

"Listen here, child. You may have been appointed as the town's ghost hunter, but that does not give you the right to boss me around. I'll lead you two back. Hurry up."

The mechanical ghost-hunter turned about face, gave one more critical glance at the teens, then started heading back toward the town. Valerie and Danny trailed a ways behind. As it turned out, the girl was starting to doubt the plan they had devised.

"Danny," she whispered. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course," the halfa nodded.

"But…I can't take you back to town. You heard what he said. They want to execute you."

"Don't worry about it, Valerie. I've got it all under control."

"How? You're 'captured,' remember? And you can't get out of these ecto-cuffs. How is this under control?"

"Just relax."

"Danny I don't want to watch you die!"

"You won't have to. Tucker, Sam, and Jazz will make sure of that."

"Danny, they're keys. How are they supposed to show themselves to everyone in the city? Are they going to run up and down the streets so that every citizen sees them?"

"No. Not at all. Just relax, Valerie. And keep in character. Skulker already suspects that something is wrong. Don't give him anymore reasons to be suspicious."

"Uh…right," Valerie nodded. Suddenly she noticed Skulker looking over his shoulder at them, and she instantly tugged on the leash, causing Danny to falter in the air. "Quit lagging, Ghost! Trying to sweet-talk me out of this mess isn't going to work. You're the villain here, not me."

The teens kept an eye on the ghost in front of them as he turned his head back around. Danny then looked to Valerie, winked, and motioned for her to speed up.

* * *

Tucker, Jazz, and Sam all waited behind the Amity Park sign outside of the city. The tech-geek peeked around the corner, watching the scene between Danny, Valerie, and Skulker unfold. When he saw that Skulker had fallen for the ploy and was taking his friends back to the city, Tuck turned around and nodded at the two females.

"All right, let's get going. If Danny's hunch is correct, Plasmius will bring everyone out to the center of town," spoke Jazz. "That will give us the opportunity to sneak up into the Ops Center on the roof of my house."

"And once we're there, we can broadcast a video to the entire city, showing everyone that we're still alive," said Sam.

"And unlocking everyone's memories," smirked Tuck.

"Hurry!" exclaimed Jazz as she led the two younger teens down the hill into the streets of their hometown.

* * *

"Well, well," spoke Plasmius upon the arrival of Skulker, Valerie, and Danny. "Look who decided to stroll back home."

The teenage halfa glared venomously at his arch-rival; however, he did not speak.

"What's the matter, Daniel? Cat got your tongue?" Danny still remained silent. "Well, no matter. Now that you're here I can see to it that you never harm another one of this town's inhabitants again. There is just one little question I would like to ask you."

Danny stared at him.

"However did you manage to escape the Realm of Nightmares?"

This question caused Danny's eye to twitch slightly as the horrible memory of that place resurfaced in his mind.

"Touch a nerve, did I, boy?" Plasmius smirked. "It must have been a terrible experience. But I suppose how you escaped doesn't truly matter. What does matter is that everyone in town has a ringside seat to watch you die."

Everyone on the streets below cheered. A wave of sadness washed over Danny like a tidal wave at the merriment below him.

"So, boy, any last words before your demise?"

The teen bowed his head.

"No? Well, then. Let's not keep the crowd waiting. Skulker, would you care to do the honors?"

"Gladly, Sir," smirked the ghost as he pulled out a dagger from his suit. "However, I would like to make a suggestion."

Plasmius kept his eyes on him.

"As much as it would give me great pleasure to finally rid the world of the ghost-child, I think it would be better if the Red Huntress performed this execution," Skulker handed the dagger to the girl who only stared up at him.

"Really? And why is that?" queried Plasmius.

"Because, Sir. Who better to finish of Danny than one of his former classmates? I feel that would be a very traumatic end for the boy."

"Hm. You're right, Skulker. Red Huntress, kill him."

The female stared down at the knife in her gloved hands, as still as though she were a statue hovering on her hover board.

"What's the matter, Red Huntress?" spoke Skulker with a smirk. "You haven't turned on us, have you?"

"N-no. No, of course not," she spoke.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"N-nothing. Just building up dramatic tension is all."

"These people have been waiting for this execution for quite some time now, Red Huntress," barked Plasmius. "Go on. Finish him now."

Valerie turned her hooded head toward Danny, who merely stared back at her. The female, uncertainly, moved to face her prisoner and raised the dagger above her head, poised to strike him. Everyone around waited with bated breath, eager to finally see the boy die. The African American looked around as though she expected something to happen. When nothing did she looked back at Danny.

"Do it, Valerie," the teen finally spoke while holding out his handcuffed hands. "You already captured me, the town hates me, so do it. I have nothing left to live for now."

The girl studied him intently, watching as his green eyes kept flitting downwards. Suddenly she understood. She knew what she had to do. She gripped the dagger in her fingers tightly then swung the dagger toward her victim.

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**DGG: So here it is. Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner than I got around to posting this one. Let's see if I have overcome my writer's block or not. Please review! But only if you feel like it. :D Happy faces for all!**


	16. The Return of Power

**DGG: Hm. I'm not a big fan of this chapter, but I suppose it is helping me move things along. So I hope you're able to enjoy it at least a little bit. **

**P.S. Thanks for the reviews. Keep 'em coming!**

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A gasp came from the crowd, and all the ghosts surrounding were dumbfounded. The Red Huntress had attacked with the dagger given to her by Skulker. The halfa looked down in mild surprise, but a smirk soon appeared on his face.

"What have you done?" Plasmius rounded on the girl.

"I believe she just set me free," Danny spoke cockily.

Rather than stabbing the teenage halfa, Valerie had sliced the cord connecting the ecto-cuffs in half, causing them to fall to the ground below and freeing Danny.

"I knew it," spoke Skulker. "She has betrayed us."

"I didn't betray you!" snapped Valerie. "I got my memory back."

"So you saw them, did you?" mused Plasmius. "Well, well. That must mean that they are still somewhere here in the city, yes?"

Neither Danny nor Valerie said a word.

"Are you planning on revealing them to everyone?" the teens still remained silent. "Well, we can't have that, can we? Ember, go find them, and make sure to dispose of them properly."

"Yes, sir," nodded Ember as she took off in search of Danny's friends.

"What? No! Leave them alone!" cried Danny while attempting to fly after the ghostly rocker; however, Skulker grabbed him by the wrist, forcing him to stay put.

"Oh no, Daniel, I need you here," Danny twisted around to look at his rival.

"Valerie, go!" cried the halfa.

"I don't think so!" cried Skulker.

The mechanical ghost reached out with his free hand and grabbed the girl off her hover board as she flew by. The female ghost hunter watched as her board zoomed on for a little while longer, but it soon crashed to the ground below without its rider.

"Let go of me! Let go!" the female struggled.

"Danny, my old friend," started Plasmius.

"I was never your friend," hissed the boy.

The evil halfa smirked, ignoring the teen.

"You see, I have a bit of a problem, and it involves you. You remember the prophecy you found during our last big battle, don't you? Well, it seems that I also need your prophecy to sort of know what the future holds for me."

"I know. You've been sending ghosts in to try and steal it from me for awhile now."

"Yes. And none of them have been successful. But I'm here to offer you a little bargain. If you hand over your prophecy orb to me, I will let you go free. However, if you do not…"

"You don't scare me," the boy interrupted.

"Prophecy orb?" queried the African American female. "What's that?"

"You didn't tell her about your orb, Daniel?" the evil halfa blinked his blood-red eyes in surprise.

"No."

"But isn't she your friend? You ally?"

"Look! No one needs to know about it! It's not that important!" snapped the white-haired halfa.

"Oh, but it is important. I need to know what it says."

"Why should my prophecy matter to you?"

"Because you are the bane of my existence, Daniel. We are mortal enemies. My prophecy spoke of how you would become the strongest ghost, and it came true when I unknowingly transferred some of my powers to you. But now you're no longer that strong. You threw all of that negative energy at my ghost in an attempt to destroy it. Now you're just Danny Phantom again. You're the same weakling I have faced on many an occasion. However…"

"You need to hear my prophecy to know for certain if I'm still just a weakling?" Danny finished the sentence.

"Yes, something like that. My main goal is to take over the world, and I need to know if you will be a problem or not."

Plasmius waited for the boy to reply, but Danny remained silent. Instead the teenager looked down toward the streets of Amity Park, his eyes cast in nothing but shadows. Slightly confused, the older halfa stared for awhile, still expecting the boy to resist the demand to give up his prophecy. After a few more moments of silence Plasmius finally grew angry.

"Are you mulling over my words, boy? Or have you just run out of things to say?"

Danny remained silent, thinking hard about his next move. He had to get out of Skulker's clutches and help his friends. Or at least get Valerie to help them. But in order to do that it meant that he would have to give in to the evil powers that he feared – the very powers that caused him to leave town in the first place. He remembered Frostbite's words.

_ You just need to learn how to control it… Although it is 'evil,' it was using its strength for good purposes._

The white-haired teen hated that he was actually thinking of using those evil powers again, but Frostbite was right. He had to control it. But how was he supposed to call it out? Danny closed his green orbs and concentrated. If he had the extra power, he could easily defeat Plasmius and all his ghost minions and get the town back to normal again. He could hear his rival speaking to him, but he didn't care. He kept focusing all his energies into calling out the powers he had received from Vlad just months earlier. Suddenly, he could feel it. A rush of power began coursing through his veins and he smirked.

"You say you want my prophecy," Danny spoke.

"Yes, boy, it's what I've wanted for weeks now," Plasmius answered, clearly aggravated.

Suddenly, the teen looked up, his eyes flashing red but turning back to their original green color. Plasmius gasped, recalling their last battle. Danny smirked suddenly splitting himself into many copies, which flew all around the area, causing both ghost and human onlookers to gasp.

"You'll have to find the real me first," Danny spoke in his three voices, signaling the arrival of more power. The only difference this time around was that rather than Danny's normal voice being the quietest of the three, it was the loudest. The deep, gravely voice and the high-pitched monotone voice were much quieter. This time Danny was in control of this extra power rather than it being in control of him.

Plasmius backed away at the sound of his nemesis' voice. Without warning, Danny turned and punched Skulker right in the metallic stomach, forcing the ghost to let go of his two captives. Valerie let out a yelp as she began to fall toward the earth below, but the teen used his quick reflexes to grab her by the wrist, stopping her descent.

"Valerie, listen," spoke Danny. "You need to make sure Ember doesn't find Tucker, Jazz, and Sam. Got it?"

The girl, who also remembered Danny's three voices from his last fight, seemed too paralyzed with fear to speak. She merely kept staring at him.

"Valerie, snap out of it!" cried Danny, shaking her a little. "I need your help. You need to go find her and make sure she doesn't stop our friends! I'll stay here and take care of Plasmius and the remaining ghosts. Okay?"

"Uh…right," she finally managed.

"Don't worry. I'm in control this time around."

The girl nodded and summoned forth her hover board. When it arrived, Danny set her down on it, and he watched as she quickly sped off after Ember.

* * *

The streets leading to Fenton Works were surprisingly clear. Everyone was in the center of town. Regardless, the trio kept a vigilant eye out for any movement just in case. However, they weren't too concerned about running into any of the citizens of Amity Park anyway. If they were, in fact, the keys to unlocking the memories of the town's inhabitants, then just seeing them would render them back to their original state of mind.

"All right!" Tuck smiled as his best friend's home came into view. "Now all we have to do is get inside and get to the Ops Center."

"Think again!"

A guitar riff sent the three teens flying backwards onto the pavement of the street. When they had recovered they looked up to find the ghostly teen-idol, Ember McClain.

"You three aren't going anywhere," she smirked. "The whole town believes you're all dead, and that's the way it's going to stay. In fact, I've been ordered to kill you."

"You couldn't kill us. You don't have the guts!" yelled Tuck.

"Tucker!" shrieked the girls.

"What do you think you're doing?" hissed Sam.

"I…I really don't know. It just sort of slipped out," he admitted.

"I'll take that as a challenge," Ember laughed as she strummed another chord on her guitar aimed at Tucker.

The resulting sound waves caused him to fly backwards yet again, scraping his arms and legs on the pavement as he tumbled down the street.

"Tucker!" the teens cried.

"Now let's see. What would be the best way to pick off the three of you?" The flaming, blue-haired musician mused aloud. "I could take you all out at once; however, if I pick you off one by one, it would be torture for the others to watch their friends die off. Decisions, decisions."

"Hey, I have an idea," Tuck piped back up. "How about you don't kill us at all and you just let us get to Fenton Works?"

"Fat chance, Geek," Ember strummed another chord, throwing Tucker backwards again.

"Tuck, if I were you I'd keep my mouth shut now," Sam yelled at him.

"Since the boy keeps giving me the most trouble, I think I'll start off by getting rid of him!"

"Whoa! How is that fair?" Tucker demanded.

"I hope you've lived a fulfilling life, Geek, because you're not going to live to see tomorrow!"

The trio watched as the ghost turned a knob on her guitar then readied herself to strike Tucker one final time.

"Say good-bye!"

"Not so fast, Ghost!"

Suddenly a blast from an ecto-gun came out of nowhere, knocking the teen ghost from the sky.

"Valerie!" Jazz exclaimed. "You made it just in time!"

"I'll say," smiled Tucker nervously.

"Red Huntress!" Ember gasped in surprise as she gathered herself up off the ground. "What are you doing?"

"I was stopping you," answered Valerie, realizing that Ember was unaware that she had her memory back. "Plasmius wants me to dispose of them instead."

"Why? I was doing perfectly fine on my own before you showed up."

"It's just that I have better means of destroying them. Plasmius wants to make absolutely sure they do not interfere with his plans of taking over the city."

"But why not just let me handle it?"

"Because what makes you so sure that these three couldn't outsmart you? They have before."

"Look, Red Huntress, I've got this under control. Now if you don't mind, I have some work I need to be getting back to."

"You'll disobey direct orders?"

Sam watched as the two girls bickered with one another. She wondered what Valerie was doing. She could easily take out Ember with her ghost hunting supplies. But that's when it hit her.

"Jazz," Sam whispered to the girl beside her. "Valerie's causing a distraction for us. She's trying to make it seem like she's still on the enemy side. This is our chance for one of us to sneak into Fenton Works."

The red-head looked back up at the scene, then back at the Goth and smiled. She nodded, both understanding that she would be the one to try and make it the rest of the way to her home. Jazz stood up cautiously and started tiptoeing away from the two bickering girls. Soon, she was far enough away that she felt safe enough to start running for the front door. The red-head kept looking over her shoulder, making sure that she was not being followed. Finally, she made it to the door, turned the handle, and ran inside.

Back on the street, Ember had finally had enough arguing with the ghost hunter.

"You know what? How about we just split it then? You kill one, I kill another, and then we'll both have fun getting rid of the last one."

The teen rocker turned her head to face the two teen girls sitting on the street, but gasped when she only saw one there.

"What? Where's the halfa's sister?"

"If you hadn't been fighting with me this entire time, she wouldn't have gotten away!" cried Valerie.

"This isn't my fault! If you would have just left me alone, all three of them would be dead by now!"

"Except that Plasmius ordered me to destroy them and to send you back to the center of town."

"Look, I don't have time for this! You take care of these two, and I'll go get the third, got it?"

Before Valerie could argue anymore, the rock star flew off, headed straight for Fenton Works.

"Valerie, do something!" cried Tuck. "We can't let her get Jazz!"

"Don't worry. I'll distract her. You two try and get to the Ops Center with Jazz."

"Got it," Tuck and Sam nodded.

Valerie nodded at them before speeding off on her hover board after Ember. She aimed her ecto-gun, fired, and hit the ghost again causing her to go crashing into the ground just in front of the Fenton household. The pale girl pushed herself up, turning around to see the teen zooming toward her.

"You…you attacked me? Again?"

"I have explicit orders from our leader to destroy these three. _I'll_ be the one to do it not you."

Ember opened her mouth to argue again, but was cut off by Valerie.

"And if you continue to resist these orders, I will be forced to fight with you."

"You think you have what it takes to defeat me?" smirked Ember as she stood up. "Well, then bring it on, Red. I'll take you out and still have enough time to stop the halfa's sister."


	17. Memories

**DGG: Ah. Merry Christmas! Happy holidays and all that! Here you all go. A lovely Christmas present for you! Or not. Who knows! Anyways, enjoy!**

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A fierce battle had ensued on the street in front of Fenton Works between Valerie and Ember. Valerie was keeping Ember preoccupied so her friends could get into the Ops Center and send a transmission around town, showing the citizens they were still alive. While the two were fighting, Sam and Tucker had to try and find a way to sneak inside the house to join Jazz. Sam had decided that the best way to get in would be from the back, so as not to get in the way of the fighting females. They quickly took off down the side streets to get to the back alley that would take them to the Fenton's backyard.

"I don't know how long Valerie is going to be able to hold off Ember, so we have to hurry!" cried Sam as they ran.

"Valerie can hold her own against her for awhile. She was turned into the town's ghost hunter, right?"

"That doesn't matter, Tuck! Yes, she'll be able to hold her own for awhile, but who knows how long that will last! We have to hurry up and get inside!"

The two kept running as fast as they could, finally making it to the security fence surrounding the Fenton's backyard. Tucker hoisted Sam up, so she could get over the top. The Goth landed in the grass on her feet, soon followed by the tech-geek. Once he was in the yard, they quickly ran to the sliding glass door leading into the kitchen.

"Oh great," Tucker pulled. "It's locked."

Sam began banging furiously on the glass, hoping that Jazz may hear them. When no one came she sighed.

"Great. Now how are we supposed to get inside?"

Tuck looked around, trying to form a plan then spotted a rock lying in the grass; he smiled.

"I think the Fentons will understand that we had to break their window for the greater good."

The male picked up the rock, then stood back, and aimed.

"Tucker, wait!" cried Sam, but it was too late.

The boy had thrown the large rock. It came in contact with the glass and shattered it as it went through and on into the kitchen.

"There," Tucker stood proudly.

Sam huffed in annoyance as she bent over and picked up the spare key the rock had been hiding and held it up.

"Oh. Whoops," Tuck laughed nervously.

"Come on. Let's go," Sam sighed as she tossed the key back onto the ground, and the two teens quickly ran inside.

Out front, the battle heated up. Valerie had resorted to trying to capture Ember; however, the ghost always seemed to dodge her equipment. After dodging another inhibitor, Ember rushed toward her opponent and strummed another chord, which jammed her hover board's frequency. The board and Valerie went soaring toward the ground, but the ghost hunter was able to jump off just before impact and land on her feet.

"This should make things easier," stated Ember. "You're pretty much just a sitting duck now that you're stuck on the ground."

"Don't count me out just yet, Ember," Valerie hissed at her. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."

The ghost rocker smirked as she strummed her guitar again. Valerie tried to dodge the sound waves, but it was no use. She was sent careening back into a nearby building.

"Now if you don't mind I've got some teenagers to fry."

"Oh no you don't," Valerie spoke to herself as she pushed herself from the building's wall.

The ghost had turned and started flying toward the Ops Center on top of the Fenton household. Seeing this as her last shot, Valerie pulled out her last inhibitor, aimed, and tossed it at the girl. The tiny device flew to its mark, clamping itself around the ghost's wrist. Ember stopped and looked down in surprise. Suddenly she cried out as it felt as though she was being electrocuted. After the electricity subsided, she found her powers no longer worked, and she fell to the ground below, causing her guitar to break in two.

"I said I'd take care of them," spoke Valerie as she made her way to the helpless ghost.

"What's the meaning of this? It's like you're trying to help them."

Ember stopped, recalling the incident earlier in the middle of towns.

_"I knew it," spoke Skulker. "She has betrayed us."_

_ "I didn't betray you!" snapped Valerie. "I got my memory back."_

_ "So you saw them, did you?" mused Plasmius. "Well, well. That must mean that they are still somewhere here in the city…"_

"You are trying to help them! You have your memory back!"

Valerie pulled her hood off.

"Took you long enough to figure that out."

"So I forgot. You're first attack shook me up. I should have known something was up when you said Plasmius sent you to destroy them. Even if you were still on our side, he'd never send you! That would just be stupid!"

"Very good. But it's too late now. You're the sitting duck now thanks to that inhibitor."

Ember gritted her teeth as she glared up at the girl.

"VALERIE!" the females looked up to see Tucker sticking out of the Ops Center window. "CATCH!"

The boy tossed something from the window. Ember gasped as Valerie moved to catch the device. It was the Fenton thermos.

"I win," spoke Valerie as she uncapped the gadget.

"You may have stopped me, but Plasmius will defeat Danny with ease. We ghosts will continue to rule this town and will soon rule the rest of the world."

"Don't count on it."

Valerie aimed the open thermos at the ghost and sucked her inside. When Valerie put the cap back on she looked back up to still see Tucker at the window.

"Nice thinking!" she called up at him.

"I figured you might need a hand!"

"Hurry up and send out that broadcast! I'll be up there in a second!"

"Right!" called Tuck as he turned back inside.

"So?" asked the Goth.

"Ember is vanquished. Now all we have to do is send out the mass broadcast."

"I can't believe you broke a window to get in here, Tucker," spoke Jazz, annoyed.

"Hey, it wasn't a window. It was the kitchen door. And I didn't see the key underneath the rock I picked up!"

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" exclaimed Sam.

"Hey, I'm working on it," said Tuck as he pushed a multitude of buttons on the control panel. "Just a few more seconds and we'll be live."

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"Do you really think this little stunt will work, Daniel?" asked Plasmius as a multitude of Danny-copies flew all around.

"Not forever," Danny shrugged. "But it'll work for as long as I need it to work."

"Oh really? And how long is that?"

Danny smirked.

"It's a surprise."

"So you still have some extra power, after all?"

"Did the three voices not tip you off?"

"Oh no. I remember our last encounter quite clearly."

"Good. Then you'll remember that I easily overtook you."

"If that's what you want to believe."

"Your bluff doesn't scare me, Plasmius. I remember our fight clearly as well. You were scared, and so were all of your ghost minions."

The ghosts surrounding the scene all gulped.

"That was then, Daniel. A lot has changed since then. And I can still defeat you."

"Like I said, you'll have to find me first."

Danny smirked again as he flew off into the army of his clones.

"Attack!" ordered Plasmius. "Go after each clone! If you kill the real one, all the copies will disappear!"

With that, ghosts and humans alike began attacking every Danny they saw. The copies flew around playfully, taunting whoever was around. The ghosts fired a multitude of attacks, but each attack only struck a clone, causing it to dissipate into the air. No one was having any luck at finding the real Danny. The clones attacked the ghosts surrounding them; however, they refrained from attacking any citizens of the town. Unfortunately the brainwashed citizens did not feel the same way. Each person seemed to be armed with some sort of ghost-hunting gun and shot at every Danny they could see. However, they seemed to be having just as much luck at finding the real Danny as the ghosts were.

Everyone was growing increasingly aggravated as they destroyed each clone. It seemed as though they just kept coming. There had to be hundreds of them flying all around, attacking and taunting. Finally, the numbers of copies were starting to dwindle, and everyone's hopes rose a bit. With fewer copies, it was more likely they would strike the real Danny soon. And once that happened, they'd have nothing left to worry about. Plasmius could continue to take over the world, and the citizens of Amity Park would believe that an evil menace was finally dead.

Finally, there was just one Danny left, and everyone smirked.

"Freeze!" cried Maddie as she pointed her ecto-gun at her son.

The teen stopped just a few feet away, staring at the woman in surprise.

"Just stay right there."

The boy seemed too surprised to speak. He hovered just above the ground keeping his eyes locked on the female's.

"This is it, Daniel," Plasmius spoke from above him. "You're going to be done in by your own mother, and she won't even think twice about it."

"This time you won't escape either!" Maddie cried.

Plasmius gently floated to the ground with his arms folded across his chest. He landed just a few feet away from his nemesis with a smug smirk on his face.

"It's over, Daniel. Just give up. No one in this town wants you here. Everyone despises you. Nothing can help you now."

The boy smirked at the man's words. This set everyone on edge, thinking he had a plan.

"Maddie, what are you waiting for? Shoot him!" cried Plasmius.

The female readied herself, putting her finger on the trigger. She was just about to squeeze it when suddenly it sounded like static was coming from just a few feet away from them. Everyone looked around in surprise as their phones all began vibrating in their pockets, and the giant TV screen positioned in the center of town on one of the massive buildings suddenly turned on. Danny stood stark still as the citizens of Amity Park began pulling out their phones and/or staring at the giant screen.

"What's going on?" everyone murmured.

Each of the ghosts exchanged glances with one another; they were just as confused as the humans were. That's when the transmission's picture finally came through on both the big screen and on everyone's phones. The crowd gasped.

"Hello, Amity Park!" cried Tucker.

The ghosts stared in horror at the screen.

"We thought we'd just make it a point to tell you that we're not dead," Sam walked on screen to Tucker's left.

"We left to find Danny," Jazz appeared next to Tuck's right. "He never abducted us. We just wanted him to come home. We just didn't know that when we returned home it would be once again overrun by ghosts."

"Which we probably should have just figured it would be. It is Amity Park," pointed out Tuck.

The multitude of humans all stared at their phones and up at the TV in shock. There they were. Sam, Jazz, and Tucker were all right. They weren't dead. That meant that Plasmius had lied to them.

"No! This can't be happening!" roared Plasmius as the spell over the citizens of Amity Park was broken.

Everyone bent over, holding their heads in their hands. They each looked as though they had pained expressions on their faces as their true identities came flooding back to them. When everyone opened their eyes again, they had returned back to normal, and were thoroughly confused.

"Where…where are we?" asked someone.

"And why are we here?" asked another.

Maddie and Jack soon came to and looked at one another.

"Where are we?" Jack asked his wife while rubbing his head. "I feel like I've been in a fog…"

"Danny!" gasped Maddie in surprise.

Everyone turned their attention to the boy in front of the crowd. It was him. It was really him. Danny had returned. The teen smiled widely as everyone regained their memories.

"That's enough!" Plasmius roared. "I will put an end to this!"

"Danny, we missed you so much," spoke Maddie.

"Where have you been all this time?" asked his father.

The young halfa seemed as though he were about to answer; however, he was cut off by an attack from Plasmius. The older halfa zapped the boy in the stomach with a powerful ghost ray, cutting all the way through him. When the evil male ceased his attack, there was a large, circular hole, cut straight through the teen.

"DANNY!" his mother cried in horror.

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**DGG: Psh. Some Christmas present. I left you all on a cliff hanger! Mwuahaha! I'll try to update soon. I hope you all have a good Christmas!**


	18. Overwhelming the Enemy

**DGG: Well, here's another chapter...I'm truly at a loss here. I've imagined the beginning of the fight, and the ending, but I have no idea what to put in the middle...So that's why this chapter is kinda short. And I have no idea what to put in the next one. Sigh. But here is something to help tide you over. **

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The massive crowd stared in horror. Danny literally had a large hold cut directly through his abdomen. Everyone stared at the teenage halfa like a deer in headlights. Maddie and Jack were both on the verge of tears as they kept their eyes locked on their son. The halfa's green orbs were practically bulging out of their sockets, and his pupils were the size of pinpricks as he slowly looked down at the gaping hole in his body. The boy was moving his mouth as though trying to speak, but no words came out, and after a few moments he looked up gravely at his parents.

Suddenly an evil laugh caused everyone to look over at Plasmius. Upon seeing the man, Maddie's horror instantly turned to rage.

"YOU!" she roared. "How could you do this to a child?"

The evil halfa ceased his laughter and looked at the red-headed woman.

"Because he is my mortal enemy. This isn't one of your happy, Saturday morning cartoons, Maddie. This is real life. Real villains will never exercise restraint just because there is a child involved."

"But, Vladdie," spoke Jack. "We grew up together! You were never so…so evil."

"No, I wasn't. I didn't turn evil until you robbed me of my youth and the love of my life!" Plasmius shouted. "If it weren't for you in the first place, I wouldn't even have these ghost powers. So maybe in a way I should say thank-you, Jack. If I hadn't become half ghost, I would never have been able to become so powerful."

"You're a monster!" sobbed Maddie.

"Maybe so, but now I can finally move on with my plan. Once Danny is dead there will be no one able to stop me from taking over the rest of the world."

Plasmius and the crowd turned their attention back toward Danny, who had gone back to staring in horror at his stomach. Everyone waited with bated breath as Danny slowly lifted his head back up to look at the crowd. He then turned his head to look at Plasmius. A few moments went by before the teen's shocked expression turned into a smug smirk. Plasmius blinked in surprise at the sudden change.

"No. This is impossible! There's no way you can survive an attack like that!"

Without warning another Danny flew in, swooped down, stopped halfway through the hole in the other Danny, aimed, and attacked his arch rival with a ghost ray, sending him flying backwards. When Plasmius sat up again, the new Danny smiled.

"Surprise," he spoke. "You attacked another clone."

The last clone disappeared, and the real Danny landed gently on his feet on the ground.

"Danny!" his mother cried in relief as she ran to her son and threw her arms around him.

"Hey, Mom," he smiled as he hugged her back.

"Danny, I'm so glad you're all right!"

"We're not out of the woods yet, Mom. I still have to fight."

"What?" Maddie quickly looked up.

But her son was staring intently at the old halfa a few feet away. Maddie stared at her son, completely horrified.

"Danny, no!"

"I have to, Mom. It's in my prophecy."

Danny suddenly held up the crystal orb in his right hand as he shoved his mother back toward his father.

"Give me that orb!" the older ghost yelled.

The man jumped at the teen, but Danny quickly flew up into the air.

"You want to know what it says?" Danny suddenly tossed the ball behind him, and it crashed and shattered upon contact with one of the many brick buildings of the town. Plasmius stared in shock as the glistening shards rained down on the streets below. "The only thing you need to know is that one can't live if the other survives."

"So one of us has to die?" Plasmius spoke bluntly.

"Apparently."

"Then say your prayers, boy! Ghosts, attack! Show him no mercy!"

With some hesitation, the ghosts surrounding the scene all pounced at Danny.

"I don't think so."

The halfa's eyes began to glow bright green, and he held his arms straight out on either side of him. Instantly a transparent green orb surrounded Danny, which deflected any ghost that came in contact with it. Once every ghost had recovered from the run-in with Danny's powers, the young halfa let his force field down, and looked around at his many foes.

"You remember what happened last time, don't you?" Danny looked at all of them.

The ghosts gulped, recalling Danny's telekinetic power over them.

"I need to fight Plasmius not you guys."

"So let us be the ones to fight the other ghosts!"

Everyone turned their attention toward the skies where they saw Valerie flying in on her hover board, followed by Jazz, Sam, and Tucker in the Fenton RV on the road.

"And we'll help too," spoke Maddie as she pulled on her hood.

"Yeah, it's been awhile since I kicked any ghosts' butts!" Jack cried eagerly.

Danny smiled and nodded at them before setting his sights on Plasmius again.

"Now, Daniel, is this really necessary?" asked the evil halfa. "I mean, we all know who's going to win this fight. Wouldn't it just be easier if you stepped down now?"

"I won't lose. I promise."

"We'll see. Attack! Show no mercy to anyone!"

Suddenly it was like an all-out war broke loose in the streets of Amity Park. The horde of ghosts instantly set their sights on all the citizens. They swooped down, sending dozens of attacks over the crowd; however, the town seemed to know just what to do. Each of them seemed trained in the ways of ghost fighting.

"Eat plasma!" cried Valerie, as she shot one of the ghosts dead on.

Jazz was still inside the RV, hitting buttons and sending out dozens of attacks from the vehicles many ghost-fighting weapons, while Tucker and Sam took to the streets to fight. One by one, the ghosts were losing, but the battle was far from over. There were many who could elude the attacks of the citizens and get off shots of their own.

Danny watched for a moment before facing his rival yet again.

"Maybe it was a bad idea for you to teach the entire town how to hunt ghosts," he spoke. "They all seem to be holding their own against your army."

"Only the weakest ghosts have been defeated, and there are plenty more ghosts where they came from."

"'Where they came from'? You mean from the Ghost Zone? Hardly."

Plasmius eyed the teen suspiciously.

"The Ghost Zone is like a ticking time bomb right now?"

"What are you talking about, boy?"

"I mean that with most of the ghosts out here in the realm of the living, the Ghost Zone is caving in on itself. If it's destroyed, then so is this world. You'll have nothing to rule if both worlds collapse. But don't worry. I'll be happy to send your little ghost minions running back to the safety of their world again. The uneven ratio of creatures residing in this world as compared to the ghost world is causing the realm to cave in."

Plasmius chuckled, "Daniel, please. Is this really the game you're going to play? You really expect me to believe something so ridiculous and clearly untrue? Your weak attempt at making me flee is pathetic. The Ghost Zone isn't going anywhere."

"It's not a weak attempt. Everything I said was true. And I certainly can't let my world be destroyed, whether it's by you or the Ghost Zone collapsing."

"Is that the best you can do?"

"Fine. If you won't listen to reason then I'll show you just what I can do," Danny smirked.

The boy held up his hand and unleashed a powerful ghost ray at his opponent. Plasmius had just enough time to transport out of the way; the attack was lightening fast. Had he blinked, he wouldn't have even seen it coming.

"Impressive," spoke Danny. "You dodged my attack."

"Just remember whose power you're using, Daniel. I'm still a force to be reckoned with."

"But the extra power gives me abilities that you can't even begin to imagine."

Danny's eyes began to glow and suddenly Plasmius found that he could no longer move.

"What…what is this? What are you doing?"

"Winning."

"You're really going to kill me, Danny? You're going to use your powers to viciously dispose of me in front of the entire town? Aren't those very powers why you left Amity Park in the first place?"

"Yes. They were. But that was because I was afraid of them then. Now I'm controlling the extra power, rather than letting it control me. Besides, I highly doubt any of these citizens would object to me getting rid of you."

"Yes, but can you really do it? You've always been a weakling, in more ways than one. Do you honestly believe you could actually follow through with the decision to kill me?"

Danny glared at the older halfa.

"You're stalling, Daniel."

Suddenly, Danny was blindsided by an attack from Skulker. The mechanical ghost had swooped in, hitting Danny from behind, causing the teen to lose his concentration, and free Plasmius from his telekinetic grasp. The boy suddenly whirled around, his eyes flashing bright red, before he started relentlessly pummeling the mechanical ghost hunter with hundreds of attacks.

Plasmius watched in interest. It still seemed as though Danny wasn't in complete control of the negative energy coursing through his body. But just as suddenly as Danny began his vicious onslaught, he stopped, grabbing his head, and squeezing his eyes shut tightly. So Danny still had to fight himself for dominance, did he? Plasmius smirked as a plan started formulating in his mind. Perhaps if he could rile Danny up, and make him fight with himself in order to keep dominance over his powers it would overwhelm and exhaust him, making it easy to strike and finish off his rival once and for all. The evil halfa suddenly split himself into six copies and made a beeline for the teenager. One grabbed him by the neck, and the other four each restrained an arm and a leg.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Danny shouted, his three voices booming.

The sixth Plasmius hovered in front of the struggling boy while conjuring up an attack.

"Winning."


	19. One Can't Live if the Other Survives

**DGG: FINALLY! Someone got the Harry Potter reference to the prophecy! I was inspired to write this story when the 5th Harry Potter came out...how sad is that?...But hey, at least someone finally saw it! This excites me more than it should.**

**P.S. Don't hate me for this chapter...which is always code for "I've done something horrible, and all of you are pretty much going to hate me." **

**Take this warning as you will...**

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The town fought fervently against the horde of ghosts. The number of ghouls was starting to dwindle as everyone sucked a ghost inside their own Fenton Thermos. The most powerful ghosts, however, were still evading the community. Many members of the town had fallen victim to an attack and were now down and out with others tending to their injuries.

"Is that all you've got?" challenged Valerie as she fought with the shape-shifting ghost known as Bertrand.

"Now, now. I'm the one who taught you all your combative skills, remember?" Bertrand transformed himself into a green ninja. "I may have taught you all the tricks that you know, but I certainly didn't teach you everything I know."

Valerie snorted.

"Like I need any of those skills to take you down. I'm more of a weapons gal."

"Relying on weaponry alone is never a good strategy."

"I'm not relying on them alone. I'm just saying that I don't need anything else to defeat the likes of you."

"We'll see."

The male struck, throwing his nun chucks at the girl, who reached out and caught them.

"You'll have to do better than that."

"I intend to."

The male suddenly transported out of sight. The female looked all around her, unable to track her opponent. She growled in frustration as she pulled on her hood in order to use its built-in ghost-tracking device. Her tracker alerted her that Bertrand was right behind her, and she turned around just in time to see him kick her off her hover board.

The girl screamed as she fell toward the earth below, but luckily her hover board detected her absence and flew down, catching her right before she collided with the pavement.

"You've forgotten some of your training, Valerie," Bertrand taunted her. "I taught you how to rely on all of your senses. You've fallen back onto the technology you were given. You should have been able to sense me without having to use the device built into your helmet."

Suddenly the shape-shifter was knocked out of the sky by the very nun chucks he had tossed at his opponent just moments earlier.

"Yeah? Well, you should have known that long-winded speeches are always the villain's downfall!" cried the female ghost hunter.

The ghost regained his composure and glared at the female.

"I got your back, Valerie!" cried Tucker from the ground who used the Fenton Fisher to latch on to Bertrand's ankle.

The ghost looked down in mild surprise before grabbing the line and pulling Tuck off the ground. The tech-geek screamed as he flew through the air.

"Your friend is very foolish," spoke Bertrand as he whipped the boy all around.

"Yeah? Well so are you," Valerie hissed as she shot the ghost with her ecto-cannon.

The blast hit the ghost right in the chest, knocking him backwards and causing him to let go of the Fenton Fisher's line and letting Tuck fly off through the air.

The female ghost hunter flew toward her old mentor, uncapping her own Fenton thermos and sucking him inside.

"You should have known better than to take your focus off of me!"

"HELP!" came Tucker's anguished cries.

"Tuck! Hang on!" Valerie sped off toward him.

Danny struggled against the five copies of Plasmius restraining him.

"Let go of me! LET GO OF ME!" he roared.

The copies only tightened their grips on the teen.

"That's right, Daniel. Fight it," the sixth Plasmius spoke while powering up a ghost ray.

"You can't restrain me!" snarled Danny, his high-pitched and low voices booming over his normal voice. This caused Plasmius to smirk. "You're not strong enough to take me down!"

"I beg to differ, Danny.

"LET GO OF ME!" Danny's eyes began to glow crimson red yet again.

The power increase Danny felt was enormous. He was instantly able to rip his limbs out of the copies' grasps, grabbed the copy that still had a hold of his neck, flipped him over his head, then used him to take out the other four clones. Once the defeated clones dissipated into nothingness, Danny turned his attention toward the real Plasmius. However, rather than attacking the other halfa, Danny closed his eyes and doubled over, holding his head.

"What's the matter, Daniel?" Plasmius smirked.

The boy only responded with grunting as he attempted to regain control over his power. Plasmius wasted no time. He fired a pink ghost ray at him, hitting the teen and knocking him backwards with a yelp. Danny regained his composure and his eyes flashed red as he glared at his opponent; however, rather than viciously attack, Danny once again stopped himself, fighting to regain control. Plasmius smirked again. His plan was working. If he kept this up, he could overwhelm Danny in no time.

The older halfa suddenly flew full-speed toward his rival, punching him in the gut and sending him soaring upwards. After that he sped after Danny and kicked him in the back, sending him soaring toward the streets below.

"DANNY!" cried Sam as she spotted him spiraling to the ground.

Everyone turned their attention toward the boy, watching in horror as he fell. However, this distraction was just what the remaining ghosts needed. They paid no heed to the Goth's cry, instea picking off the town while they were distracted. The surprised yelps of the first few victims caused the other citizens to snap out of their daze and start fighting off the remaining ghosts yet again, unable to do anything for Danny.

Plasmius watched as the teen fell, a sick smile plastered on his face. However, just before the boy hit the ground, he suddenly flipped over and landed on his feet, his eyes flashing green as he looked back up at his opponent.

Plasmius frowned.

"So you've regained control? Now what are you going to do? Take your revenge on me?"

Danny merely stared at him, not saying anything. Suddenly the older halfa looked up when he heard a scream coming toward him.

"INCOMING!" cried Tucker as he zoomed right for Plasmius.

The halfa had no time to react before the teen crashed into him. The two went sailing backwards until they ricocheted off a building and began falling to the ground.

Sam rushed to Danny's side.

"Danny, do something!" she cried.

The teen just stood his ground and watched as the two fell.

"Danny, what are you waiting for? Save, Tuck!"

Still there was no response.

"Danny!"

The halfa finally turned his head to look at his friend and met with her worried amethyst eyes.

"It's covered," Danny finally answered.

Sam stared at him in confusion before seeing Valerie zoom by on her hover board. The two watched as she quickly reached the teen and snatched him out of the air, leaving only Plasmius to collide with the pavement below. Danny averted his attention back to Sam.

"Sam, remember what Clockwerk said about the Ghost Zone?"

"Yeah."

"Then you guys have to get the captured ghosts back there immediately. Collect as many thermoses as you can, go back to my house, and empty them into the Ghost Zone."

"No way! I'm not leaving you here alone, Danny!"

"You have no choice. Go, Sam. Tell my mom. Tell everyone. You need to get the ghosts you've captured so far and get them back into the Ghost Zone. If the Ghost Zone caves in, then this world follows suit! Go!"

"But, Danny…"

"I'll be fine. Besides there's nothing you can do for me. This is my fight."

"We're not leaving you, Danny," spoke Valerie.

"Yeah, we're sticking by you whether you want us to or not," agreed Tuck.

Danny looked at the determined expressions on his friends' faces and sighed.

"Fine. Then stay. But you still have to tell everyone else."

"On it," nodded Sam as the three took off to tell the citizens about returning the captured ghosts to the Ghost Zone.

Once they were gone, Danny turned his attention once again to Plasmius, who was just now picking himself up off the ground.

"You were trying to make me lose control," spoke Danny. "It almost worked."

The evil halfa stood up and glared at the boy.

"I guess my will is stronger than you thought it was."

"Are you sure, Daniel? The way you lost all control when Skulker attacked…"

"I have my moments," Danny interrupted.

"You truly believe that you are fully in control?" Plasmius raised an eyebrow.

"Do your worst."

Plasmius snarled as he once again set out to attack his rival with a ghost ray. Danny merely smirked as he caused the attack to stop in mid-air just before it struck him. Without warning, Danny forced the attack back at Plasmius. The ghost attempted to transport out of the way, but he was too slow. He was struck in the chest by his own attack, flew backwards, and landed on his back on the ground.

"You can't hurt me," spoke Danny.

"Maybe not alone," Plasmius spat as he stood up shakily. "But if your attention is diverted between multiple attacks, then I'll be able to defeat you."

"If you haven't noticed, the remainder of your army is busy trying to stop everyone from getting their fallen comrades back into the Ghost Zone. You have no help."

"I don't need outside help, Daniel. Not when I have the power of duplication."

"I don' think so."

The white-haired teen's eyes began to glow green once again. At this, Plasmius discovered he wasn't able to duplicate himself at all. No matter how much he concentrated or attempted, his power just wouldn't work. He looked up at the boy.

"What have you done?" he demanded.

Danny's eyes ceased glowing.

"I've shorted out your power."

"Impossible!"

The evil halfa tried again, but was once more unsuccessful. He stared at Danny in awe.

"You have the ability to short out my powers at will?"

"I told you the extra energy I gained from you gave me powers that you couldn't even begin to comprehend."

The older male gritted his fanged teeth.

"We've done enough stalling," spoke Danny. "It's time to end this once and for all."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Good."

Without any hesitation, Danny held out his right hand and sent out a power stream. Plasmius did the same just before it collided with him. Wind whipped all around the streets as the two battled for dominance. The wind was so powerful that it actually sent the remaining citizens of the town, as well as the remaining ghosts, flying. People were grabbing onto the nearest objects they could find and grabbing onto each other as they watched the fight. Valerie, who had been in the air, was able to grab onto the top of a street light before she was blown completely away while Sam and Tucker had a hold of the base of the same light. The three teens fought to keep their grips as the wind did its best to keep blowing them away. A good portion of the town had already taken off for Fenton Works; however, even they could feel the effects of the battle taking place downtown.

Maddie, who was leading the group, stopped and turned around.

"What's going on back there?" she asked.

"I don't know," answered her husband, who was watching the scene as well.

"Danny," the mother squeaked.

"Mom," spoke Jazz, her hair whipping around due to the winds, "we have a job to do! Danny needs us to keep going! He'll be fine! I know he will be. He's taken on Plasmius tons of times before!"

The mother looked from her daughter back to the center of town, unsure.

"Jazz is right," spoke Jack. "Danny's a tough kid, and right now he needs us to take all these ghosts back to the Ghost Zone."

Maddie nodded then instructed the group with them to keep moving; however, she still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Back in the center of town, the two half ghosts kept their focus locked on one another. Plasmius had already resorted to using both hands to maintain his attack, and while Danny was faring all right with using just one, he soon found that he needed to use both hands as well. He focused all his energy into this attack. This final assault. This was the battle that was going to decide everything. Danny knew this was the end.

Surprisingly enough to the citizens still left in the center of town, Plasmius was holding up quite nicely against Danny. Sweat beads dripped down both the halfas' faces as they continued on with their tedious onslaught.

"Just…give up, Daniel!" Plasmius grunted. "Your…your attempts are…futile!"

The teen didn't speak. He just kept his focus on the task at hand.

"I don't get it!" Tuck yelled over the wind. "They seem so evenly matched now! You'd think that Danny would be able to overpower Vlad easily!"

"He's using Vlad's power!" Sam shouted back. "Maybe the attacks are slightly canceling each other out or something!"

"Danny, you have to give it some more oomph!" Tuck cried.

Tucker was right. At the moment Danny was only using the negative energy he obtained from Plasmius a few months earlier. Using that alone, he really was evenly matched up against his opponent. He had to use everything he had, including his own energy. Danny closed his eyes, yelling as he increased the power of his attack.

Plasmius, however, didn't seem bothered by the sudden increase. He seemed to just strain his body even more, scrounging up every last bit of energy he could muster. Plasmius' determination only caused Danny to push himself even harder as well. Everyone watched as the two each forced the other to go to their limits. Finally, the energy streams of both males finally reached the breaking point causing a blinding flash of light to occur.

When the flash subsided everyone looked to see both Danny and Plasmius fighting to stand. Everyone surrounding the scene slowly stood up, not wanting to blink for fear of missing what may happen next. Both halfas stood doubled over with their eyes clenched shut.

"Danny," Sam spoke cautiously as both she and Tuck made their way toward him.

The town watched on as the two halfas remained doubled over. After a few moments, Plasmius slowly stood up straight. Everyone gasped as he weakly took a step forward.

"No way," Tuck whispered in horror.

However, his terror was short-lived as Plasmius fell to the ground, transforming back into Vlad Masters. The town stared as the middle-aged male lay motionless in the street. The remaining ghosts gasped at their fallen leader, gulped, and then took off for the safety of the Ghost Zone.

"Danny! You did it!" cried Tuck.

"You won!" exclaimed Sam.

The teen slowly stood up straight, his eyes drooping as he looked at his two closest friends.

"You beat Plasmius! The town is free again!" smiled the tech-geek.

Danny smiled weakly at his friends before placing a hand to his woozy head. The town's celebratory smiles soon disappeared as they watched in horror as the boy suddenly transformed back into a human and fell to the ground motionless.

"Danny!" cried Sam as she knelt down beside him.

Suddenly Maddie, Jack, and Jazz appeared, returning with the rest of the town. Seeing the two forms lying in the middle of the street, the family quickly rushed over.

"What's going on?" demanded a frantic Maddie. "What happened?"

Sam stared at Danny in disbelief, taking her fingers off his neck.

"He's…he's dead," her voice squeaked.

"WHAT?" cried Maddie, kneeling down and picking up her son.

"But," Jazz spoke, "if Danny's dead…then does that mean…" she trailed off as she looked at Vlad's body.

Tuck gulped as he nervously made his way to the older male and took his pulse. He looked back at everyone.

"He's dead too," he spoke in confusion.

The town now circled the scene, bowing their heads in sadness.

"Tuck, I…I don't get it. Danny's prophecy said one couldn't live while the other survived. If Plasmius died, then why is Danny dead too?" tears rolled down Sam's face.

The tech-geek thought about it for a moment, looking back and forth between his fallen friend and the body of Vlad Masters. Suddenly it struck him.

"If," he said.

Both Sam and Jazz looked at him.

"His prophecy said 'one can't live _if_ the other survives'. There was no guarantee that either one of them would make it out of this alive."

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**DGG: I'm bad...I know it. You don't need to tell me, but I feel some of you will. BUT this was always the ending I saw in my mind for this story. Actually, now that I think about it, this is kinda like how I wanted Harry Potter to end...Oh my.**

**BUT there's one chapter left. So stay tuned for that. **

***awaits angry/shocked reviews***


	20. New Hope

**DGG: A short little chapter to finally end this story. I feel bad about the like...two year break I took off from writing this story. CLEARLY, as I read my author's note from the very first chapter, posting it online did not motivate me enough to finish it...or finish it quickly. Which just made me feel even worse. But oh well. It's finally done now. **

**Thanks to my many reviewers. I'm glad you all seem to have enjoyed the story. Yay! **

**And now, ladies and gents, I give you the final chapter to the 'Ghost Boy Prophecy II'. Enjoy!**

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Emptiness swept throughout all of Amity Park the following week. Barely any work had been done to restore the town to its former state as all thoughts were on their fallen hero. Many people felt extremely guilty, knowing that it was their frightened and mistrusting glances that led to driving him from the town in the first place. Yet even after they had unintentionally made Danny feel like an outcast, he had come back and died while protecting them. The boy had given his life for them; they felt completely undeserving of that kind of sacrifice.

The town remained eerily quiet. No one really felt like speaking. What was there to say? They all knew how their fellow citizens felt, so there was no need to bring up the painful situation anymore than need be. The upcoming funeral for the boy was enough to keep their minds preoccupied.

The people in the most pain by far, however, were Danny's family and friends. The fact that he had been gone for so long, yet when they finally got him back he was suddenly ripped away from them again hung heavy over their hearts. The three teens kept thinking about Danny's prophecy, wanting to know why it had been so misleading. Eventually the trio decided that the ghosts they needed to speak with were the ones who knew the most about the prophecies. So the three took a trip into the Ghost Zone, and bundling up warmly, went to the Realm of the Far Frozen.

"Ah. The three of you have returned," spoke Clockwork while changing from a young ghost to that of an adult. "Just like I had foreseen."

"We don't understand," Sam spoke. "Danny won, so why did he have to die too?"

"He did not have to die," answered Frostbite.

"Then why did he?" asked the Goth rather testily.

"Because nothing in the future is ever for certain," answered Clockwork as his age shifted to that of a decrepit old man. "A multitude of things could have happened in that final battle. Unfortunately, the battle ended up with Danny's death."

"Hence the deceptiveness in the words of Danny's prophecy," the yeti continued. "Clockwork foresaw many outcomes for his final battle with Plasmius."

"So what led to this conclusion?" asked Jazz.

"Plasmius, of course," Clockwork spoke up again.

"Well, obviously," muttered Tuck.

"Not quite. You see, Danny could have lived after the battle had it not been for his rival's final act of disparity. He wanted to win more than anything, yet he saw that young Danny was overpowering him. Rather than just keeping with his current attack, he instead exerted as much of his power as he possibly could in order to make his own attack stronger. He was unwilling to accept the fact that he could be defeated by Danny. Plasmius' overexertion caused Danny to overexert his powers as well in order to fight back the increase in his foe's attack. In the end the two were evenly matched thus…"

"Their attacks wiped each other out," finished Tuck.

"Precisely," Clockwork nodded, changing to a child.

"But that's still not fair!" cried Sam. "Danny didn't deserve to die too!"

"Of course not," said Frostbite. "But Danny knew the possible consequences before he decided it was time to fight. He had to come to terms with the very thing he had feared since he arrived in this realm."

"That doesn't make me feel any better! He's still dead!"

"Yes. As are we. Yet here we are speaking with one another face to face," said Clockwork, changing again to the next form in his cycle.

The teen stared at the ghost for a moment.

"Wait…are you saying that Danny…Danny is here?" asked Jazz in realization.

"It's always possible. It is possible for anyone who dies to become a ghost if they have unfinished business or a keen attachment to the people or surroundings in their lives," explained the yeti.

"So he's here?" asked Sam, excitement seeping into her voice.

"We never said that he was," spoke Clockwork.

"Then what exactly are you saying?" Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Wouldn't you know?"

"I do not. I did not look into what would happen to Danny if he was to die. I cannot say for certain whether he is here or not."

"Where would he be if he is?" Jazz asked eagerly.

"He could be anywhere," said Frostbite. "There is no set point of entrance when a new ghost finds themselves here in the Ghost Zone. They merely wake up here. If Danny is here, he could be anywhere."

"You guys, I bet Danny is here," Tuck suddenly smiled while turning to the females. "I mean, I would think that he would have a good chance at some unfinished business. Plus, wouldn't the chances of his becoming a ghost be greater just because he was already part ghost?"

"Yeah," a smile soon appeared on Sam's face. "We could search the Ghost Zone for him! And then he could come back and live at Fenton Works! It would be almost like he never left!"

"Although you are right in saying the he has a greater chance of being here because he was, in fact, already part ghost, you must not get your hopes up," Clockwork warned, changing again. "There is still no guarantee that he will be here."

"But it's worth looking into, isn't it? I mean he's my brother. He's their friend. If Danny is full-ghost now, he still deserves to be with his loved ones, right? I mean, he's been alone since he first left Amity Park. He doesn't deserve to be alone after his death too, does he?"

"You are right. You have every right to search the Ghost Zone for him, but heed my warning," Clockwork looked into each of the teens' faces. "The Ghost Zone is a vast and complex realm, as you already know. He could wander aimlessly here forever, as could you. And since the Ghost Zone is so large, there's still a very good chance that you will be unable to locate him. In most cases, if he does hold a strong attachment to the people and places in his life – as I'm sure he would, judging by the close bonds you all share with him and one another – then there is a good chance that he will drift back to you himself."

"I can't just sit by and wait for him to show up! I want to look for him!" exclaimed Sam. Tucker and Jazz nodded.

"Do as you will," continued the time-altering ghost. "I cannot stop you if you choose to try and pursue him. But if he is here, then he is a lost soul and will continue to drift until he finds what he is searching for."

"So if we find him, we can direct him to what he's looking for," said Tuck.

"Guys, come on! If Danny's in the Ghost Zone, then I want to find him as soon as possible! Come on!" Sam practically shoved her friends toward the Specter Speeder.

The two ghosts watched as the enthusiastic trio made their way to their transportation vehicle. All three teens had huge smiles on their faces at the prospect of finding Danny again and bringing him back to Amity Park.

"Do you think Danny could truly be here?" asked Frostbite. "Do you believe it at all possible for them to find him?"

Clockwork smirked, changing once more.

"You of all ghosts should know that if he does have an afterlife that his friends will find him. They did save him from The Realm of Nightmares, after all. If that's not proof enough of how much they care for Danny, then I don't know what is. Danny certainly has many people who care about him deeply. I believe that if he has wound up in the Ghost Zone, there is a decent chance he can be found."

The ghosts watched as the trio started up the Specter Speeder and headed out to the rest of the Ghost Zone. The teens had no idea of where to start their search, and so decided they would zip around the ghostly realm for awhile to see if they could catch a glimpse of their friend.

As the vehicle zoomed by, a young ghost flew out from behind one of the many floating doors in the realm. He stared at it for awhile thinking about how it looked strangely familiar to him. He scratched his head in thought for a moment but found he was unable to place where exactly he had seen it before. Eventually he shrugged. It didn't matter. He had something else to do. And so the boy flew off through the confusing realm, his white hair rustling every which way as he headed in the opposite direction of the strangely familiar vehicle.


End file.
